The Linux kernel contains a race condition in the PCI Altera driver that occurs when a root bus is stopped and removed. The code fails to acquire the pci_rescan_remove_lock, allowing concurrent rescan or hotplug operations that may free memory before it is finished being accessed. This race can trigger a use‑after‑free in kernel code, causing data corruption and system crashes.

All Linux distributions that ship the affected kernel source are impacted, as identified by the cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel. No specific kernel version is listed, so any kernel built from this source before the patch is potentially vulnerable.

The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog and no EPSS score is published, but a use‑after‑free in kernel space is inherently high risk. The likely attack vector is local system access that can trigger PCI hotplug or sysfs operations, such as malicious scripts or compromised services. With the race condition, an attacker may be able to cause a crash.