CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-98610

Low risk· EPSS 11%
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.21%

11th percentile - higher than 11% of all known CVEs

Summary

In the Linux kernel, hfsc_classify() (net/sched: sch_hfsc) applies the level check only when the filter result carries no bound class; a filter created with a flowid gets res.class set once at bind time, so the check never runs during classification. When hfsc_adjust_levels() later raises a class's level without revalidating existing bindings, two binds that were each legal at bind time can point at each other, causing the classify walk to bounce between two interior classes forever with the qdisc lock held and BH disabled — a soft lockup from a single packet. The issue is reachable from an unprivileged user via unshare -Urn (CAP_NET_ADMIN).

Risk Assessment

A single packet can trigger a CPU soft lockup with the qdisc lock held, leading to system hang and, with softlockup_panic=1, a kernel panic. The vulnerability is locally reachable by an unprivileged user with CAP_NET_ADMIN in a namespace, making it a realistic denial-of-service vector.

Recommendation

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix that bounds the classify walk with a budget of non-descending hops (follow-up to commit 729c4896ab82 for HTB). Until patched, consider restricting unprivileged network namespace creation (unshare -Urn) or disabling the sch_hfsc module if it is not in use.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

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Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: sch_hfsc: bound the classify inner-filter walk with a drift budget hfsc_classify() applies the "filter may only point downwards" level check only when the filter result carries no bound class. A filter created with a flowid gets res.class set once at bind time, so the check never runs for it during classification. hfsc_adjust_levels() can later raise a class's level without revalidating existing bindings, leaving two binds that were each legal at bind time pointing at each other; the classify walk then bounces between two interior classes forever with the qdisc lock held and BH disabled — a soft lockup from a single packet. The stuck walk trips the watchdog: watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#3 stuck for 13s! [ping:444] RIP: 0010:u32_classify+0x542/0x17f0 ... tcf_classify+0x66/0xa0 hfsc_enqueue+0x166/0xdf0 Bound the traversal with a budget of non-descending hops, the only way a configured walk can move without descending the class tree once levels drift after bind time. The budget is cumulative over the whole walk and is deliberately not reset on a descending hop: a chain that alternates a descent with a lateral hop would return the budget every lap and never trip. Descending hops never decrement it, so legitimately deep trees are unaffected and a terminating lateral chain still classifies normally. Drop the packet with a rate-limited warning once the budget is exhausted, mirroring the merged HTB fix. This is a follow-up to commit 729c4896ab82 ("net/sched: sch_htb: limit htb_classify inner-class filter hops"), which bounded the same classify loop on the HTB side but left the HFSC walk unbounded. Conditions to recreate the bug: - CONFIG_NET_SCHED, CONFIG_NET_SCH_HFSC, CONFIG_NET_CLS_U32, CONFIG_LOCKUP_DETECTOR. - Build a cycle with two legal-at-bind-time flowid binds and a level drift: class X 1:1 (child of root) with leaf child 1:10; class Y 1:2 (sibling of X) with children 1:20 and 1:200; root u32 filter flowid 1:1; filter on X flowid 1:2 (legal when Y is a leaf); after Y's level rises to 2, filter on Y flowid 1:1 (legal then). Send one packet (ping on the device). Unfixed kernel: classify spins with the qdisc lock held; with softlockup_panic=1 it panics. - Reachable from unprivileged user via unshare -Urn (CAP_NET_ADMIN).

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS