Bug 2541265 (CVE-2026-98049)

Summary: CVE-2026-98049 kernel: bpf: zero extend the result of an arena 32-bit cmpxchg
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: akhatavk, aos-team-art-private, asdas, dpaolell, jdelft, jupierce, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, rhel-process-autobot, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's BPF (Berkeley Packet Filter) subsystem. When executing a 32-bit atomic compare-and-exchange operation on arena memory, the kernel fails to properly clear (zero-extend) the upper half of the target register as required by BPF specifications. A local attacker with permission to load BPF programs could exploit this register state discrepancy to cause memory corruption, potentially leading to privilege escalation or a denial of service (system crash).
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-09-25 11:12:24 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

bpf: zero extend the result of an arena 32-bit cmpxchg

bpf_convert_ctx_accesses() rewrites an atomic on an arena pointer from
BPF_STX | BPF_ATOMIC to BPF_STX | BPF_PROBE_ATOMIC, and it runs before
bpf_opt_subreg_zext_lo32_rnd_hi32().

That pass emits an explicit zero extension for a 32-bit cmpxchg even
when bpf_jit_needs_zext() is false. This is done because on some
architectures 32-bit cmpxchg requires explicit zero extension for the
dst register. E.g. on x86-64 'lock cmpxchg' does not change the %eax
if comparison is successful, while BPF semantics declare that each
operation on a 32-bit register zero extends it's upper half.

is_cmpxchg_insn() matches BPF_MODE == BPF_ATOMIC only, so an arena
cmpxchg misses said zero extension adjustment. This patch adjusts
is_cmpxchg_insn() to match BPF_PROBE_ATOMIC alongside BPF_ATOMIC.