Bug 2555021 (CVE-2026-98561)

Summary: CVE-2026-98561 kernel: nfp: hold IPsec RX state under the XArray lock
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   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Netronome Flow Processor (nfp) network driver. A race condition occurs when incoming Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) network packets are processed concurrently with the removal of security associations. Because the driver releases internal locks before securing a reference to the connection state, the system attempts to increment a reference count on an object already queued for destruction. This issue can lead to memory corruption and crash the system, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Story Points: ---
Clone Of: Environment:
Last Closed: Type: ---
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-10-18 15:39:44 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

nfp: hold IPsec RX state under the XArray lock

nfp_net_ipsec_rx() drops the XArray lock before taking a reference to the
xfrm_state it found. The delete path can erase the entry and drop the last
state reference in that interval. RX can then try to increment a zero
refcount after the state has been queued for destruction.

The driver queues firmware invalidation asynchronously; the delete path
does not wait for the command to complete or drain pending RX processing.

The XFRM garbage collector waits for an RCU grace period before freeing
the state. That delays reclamation but does not make acquiring a reference
from zero valid.

Take the xfrm_state reference before releasing the XArray lock so
xa_erase() cannot run between lookup and reference acquisition.