Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

fs/dax: check zero or empty entry before converting xarray entry

Calling dax_to_folio() with empty entry causes kernel panic below when
booting a VM with DAX enabled storage.

This patch checks empty entry before calling dax_to_folio() on
dax_associate_entry(), dax_disassociate_entry(), and dax_busy_page().

Commit 98c183a4fccf ("fs/dax: don't disassociate zero page entries") added
guards in the associate and disassociate paths, but the guards still come
after dax_to_folio(), and dax_busy_page() still has the same problem.

[ 0.737679] EXT4-fs (pmem0p1): mounted filesystem 79676804-7c8b-491a-b2a6-9bae3c72af70 ro with ordered data mode. Quota mode: disabled.
[ 0.737891] VFS: Mounted root (ext4 filesystem) readonly on device 259:1.
[ 0.739119] devtmpfs: mounted
[ 0.739476] Freeing unused kernel memory: 1920K
[ 0.740156] Run /sbin/init as init process
[ 0.740229] with arguments:
[ 0.740286] /sbin/init
[ 0.740321] with environment:
[ 0.740369] HOME=/
[ 0.740400] TERM=linux
[ 0.743162] Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address fffffdffbf000008
[ 0.743285] Mem abort info:
[ 0.743316] ESR = 0x0000000096000006
[ 0.743371] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits
[ 0.743444] SET = 0, FnV = 0
[ 0.743489] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0
[ 0.743545] FSC = 0x06: level 2 translation fault
[ 0.743610] Data abort info:
[ 0.743656] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000006, ISS2 = 0x00000000
[ 0.743720] CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0
[ 0.743785] GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0
[ 0.743848] swapper pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=00000000b9d17000
[ 0.743931] [fffffdffbf000008] pgd=10000000bfa3d403, p4d=10000000bfa3d403, pud=1000000040bfe403, pmd=0000000000000000
[ 0.744070] Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000006 [#1] SMP
[ 0.748888] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: init Not tainted 6.18.4 #1 NONE
[ 0.749421] pstate: 004000c5 (nzcv daIF +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
[ 0.749969] pc : dax_disassociate_entry.constprop.0+0x20/0x50
[ 0.750444] lr : dax_insert_entry+0xcc/0x408
[ 0.750802] sp : ffff80008000b9e0
[ 0.751083] x29: ffff80008000b9e0 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: 0000000000000000
[ 0.751682] x26: 0000000001963d01 x25: ffff0000004f7d90 x24: 0000000000000000
[ 0.752264] x23: 0000000000000000 x22: ffff80008000bcc8 x21: 0000000000000011
[ 0.752836] x20: ffff80008000ba90 x19: 0000000001963d01 x18: 0000000000000000
[ 0.753407] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 0000000000000000
[ 0.753970] x14: ffffbf3154b9ae70 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: ffffbf3154b9ae70
[ 0.754548] x11: ffffffffffffffff x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : 0000000000000000
[ 0.755122] x8 : 000000000000000d x7 : 000000000000001f x6 : 0000000000000000
[ 0.755707] x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : fffffdffc0000000
[ 0.756287] x2 : 0000000000000008 x1 : 0000000040000000 x0 : fffffdffbf000000
[ 0.756871] Call trace:
[ 0.757107] dax_disassociate_entry.constprop.0+0x20/0x50 (P)
[ 0.757592] dax_iomap_pte_fault+0x4fc/0x808
[ 0.757951] dax_iomap_fault+0x28/0x30
[ 0.758258] ext4_dax_huge_fault+0x80/0x2dc
[ 0.758594] ext4_dax_fault+0x10/0x3c
[ 0.758892] __do_fault+0x38/0x12c
[ 0.759175] __handle_mm_fault+0x530/0xcf0
[ 0.759518] handle_mm_fault+0xe4/0x230
[ 0.759833] do_page_fault+0x17c/0x4dc
[ 0.760144] do_translation_fault+0x30/0x38
[ 0.760483] do_mem_abort+0x40/0x8c
[ 0.760771] el0_ia+0x4c/0x170
[ 0.761032] el0t_64_sync_handler+0xd8/0xdc
[ 0.761371] el0t_64_sync+0x168/0x16c
[ 0.761677] Code: f9453021 f2dfbfe3 cb813080 8b001860 (f9400401)
[ 0.762168] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
[ 0.762550] note: init[1] exited with irqs disabled
[ 0.762631] Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init! exitcode=0x0000000b
Published: 2026-10-06
Score: 5.5 Medium
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: Denial of Service
Action: Immediate Patch
AI Analysis

Impact

The bug resides in the Direct Access (DAX) subsystem of the Linux kernel. A zero or empty entry can be passed to dax_to_folio() during xarray association, disassociation, or busy page checks. This results in a null‑pointer dereference that triggers a kernel panic, causing the system to crash during boot or when accesses a DAX‑enabled filesystem. The crash manifests as an abrupt halt of the init process, leading to a denial of service that affects the entire host.

Affected Systems

The vulnerability exists in all Linux kernel releases that do not yet incorporate commit 98c183a4fccf, which added a guard to verify entries before invoking dax_to_folio(). The affected products are thus the Linux kernel itself; any distribution kernel that has not applied this change is impacted. The commitment is part of the upstream kernel and therefore applies to all mainstream distributions until they update to a kernel that contains the fix.

Risk and Exploitability

According to the data, the CVSS score is 5.5, reflecting moderate severity. The EPSS score is listed as < 1%, indicating a very low probability of exploitation in the wild. The vulnerability is not present in the CISA KEV catalog. It does not provide remote code execution; the crash requires the attacker to manipulate system boot or a DAX‑enabled virtual machine configuration. The likely attack vector is local privileged access or the ability to induce a boot with a DAX‑enabled back‑end, which is inferred from the crash description that occurs during VM boot.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on October 11, 2026 at 03:49 UTC.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Apply a kernel update that includes commit 98c183a4fccf, which adds the necessary guard before calling dax_to_folio().
  • If an immediate kernel update is not viable, disable DAX support on all affected filesystems, for example by mounting with the 'noDAX' option or configuring virtual machines to avoid DAX‑enabled back‑ends.
  • Continuously monitor the kernel changelog and vendor security advisories for further patches addressing the DAX subsystem and apply them when available.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on October 11, 2026 at 03:49 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories yet.

History

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

 cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

threat_severity

Low

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 21:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-476

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/dax: check zero or empty entry before converting xarray entry Calling dax_to_folio() with empty entry causes kernel panic below when booting a VM with DAX enabled storage. This patch checks empty entry before calling dax_to_folio() on dax_associate_entry(), dax_disassociate_entry(), and dax_busy_page(). Commit 98c183a4fccf ("fs/dax: don't disassociate zero page entries") added guards in the associate and disassociate paths, but the guards still come after dax_to_folio(), and dax_busy_page() still has the same problem. [ 0.737679] EXT4-fs (pmem0p1): mounted filesystem 79676804-7c8b-491a-b2a6-9bae3c72af70 ro with ordered data mode. Quota mode: disabled. [ 0.737891] VFS: Mounted root (ext4 filesystem) readonly on device 259:1. [ 0.739119] devtmpfs: mounted [ 0.739476] Freeing unused kernel memory: 1920K [ 0.740156] Run /sbin/init as init process [ 0.740229] with arguments: [ 0.740286] /sbin/init [ 0.740321] with environment: [ 0.740369] HOME=/ [ 0.740400] TERM=linux [ 0.743162] Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address fffffdffbf000008 [ 0.743285] Mem abort info: [ 0.743316] ESR = 0x0000000096000006 [ 0.743371] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits [ 0.743444] SET = 0, FnV = 0 [ 0.743489] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 [ 0.743545] FSC = 0x06: level 2 translation fault [ 0.743610] Data abort info: [ 0.743656] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000006, ISS2 = 0x00000000 [ 0.743720] CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 [ 0.743785] GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 [ 0.743848] swapper pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=00000000b9d17000 [ 0.743931] [fffffdffbf000008] pgd=10000000bfa3d403, p4d=10000000bfa3d403, pud=1000000040bfe403, pmd=0000000000000000 [ 0.744070] Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000006 [#1] SMP [ 0.748888] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: init Not tainted 6.18.4 #1 NONE [ 0.749421] pstate: 004000c5 (nzcv daIF +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 0.749969] pc : dax_disassociate_entry.constprop.0+0x20/0x50 [ 0.750444] lr : dax_insert_entry+0xcc/0x408 [ 0.750802] sp : ffff80008000b9e0 [ 0.751083] x29: ffff80008000b9e0 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: 0000000000000000 [ 0.751682] x26: 0000000001963d01 x25: ffff0000004f7d90 x24: 0000000000000000 [ 0.752264] x23: 0000000000000000 x22: ffff80008000bcc8 x21: 0000000000000011 [ 0.752836] x20: ffff80008000ba90 x19: 0000000001963d01 x18: 0000000000000000 [ 0.753407] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 0000000000000000 [ 0.753970] x14: ffffbf3154b9ae70 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: ffffbf3154b9ae70 [ 0.754548] x11: ffffffffffffffff x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : 0000000000000000 [ 0.755122] x8 : 000000000000000d x7 : 000000000000001f x6 : 0000000000000000 [ 0.755707] x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : fffffdffc0000000 [ 0.756287] x2 : 0000000000000008 x1 : 0000000040000000 x0 : fffffdffbf000000 [ 0.756871] Call trace: [ 0.757107] dax_disassociate_entry.constprop.0+0x20/0x50 (P) [ 0.757592] dax_iomap_pte_fault+0x4fc/0x808 [ 0.757951] dax_iomap_fault+0x28/0x30 [ 0.758258] ext4_dax_huge_fault+0x80/0x2dc [ 0.758594] ext4_dax_fault+0x10/0x3c [ 0.758892] __do_fault+0x38/0x12c [ 0.759175] __handle_mm_fault+0x530/0xcf0 [ 0.759518] handle_mm_fault+0xe4/0x230 [ 0.759833] do_page_fault+0x17c/0x4dc [ 0.760144] do_translation_fault+0x30/0x38 [ 0.760483] do_mem_abort+0x40/0x8c [ 0.760771] el0_ia+0x4c/0x170 [ 0.761032] el0t_64_sync_handler+0xd8/0xdc [ 0.761371] el0t_64_sync+0x168/0x16c [ 0.761677] Code: f9453021 f2dfbfe3 cb813080 8b001860 (f9400401) [ 0.762168] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [ 0.762550] note: init[1] exited with irqs disabled [ 0.762631] Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init! exitcode=0x0000000b
Title fs/dax: check zero or empty entry before converting xarray entry
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Subscriptions

Linux Linux Kernel
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-10-19T09:16:30.392Z

Reserved: 2026-09-25T10:25:14.332Z

Link: CVE-2026-98259

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-10-06T09:18:14.877

Modified: 2026-10-19T10:18:26.993

Link: CVE-2026-98259

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Low

Publid Date: 2026-10-06T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-98259 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-10-11T04:00:14Z

Weaknesses