CVE-2026-99093 — mm: don't schedule deferred kernel page table freeing while booting
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm: don't schedule deferred kernel page table freeing while booting Booting with a boot-time function tracer and a filter, for example ftrace=function ftrace_filter=pud_free_pmd_page panics on 7.3-rc4 as soon as the tracer starts: [ 23.531178] Starting tracer 'function' [ 23.675800] Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000038: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI [ 23.819917] KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x00000000000001c0-0x00000000000001c7] [ 23.964025] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper Not tainted 7.3.0-rc4-fe2ec83746e5-with-fixes-v2+ #195 PREEMPT(undef) [ 24.252248] RIP: 0010:__queue_work+0xab/0xf00 [ 25.981629] Call Trace: [ 26.125727] <TASK> [ 26.413912] ? pagetable_free_kernel+0x20/0x120 [ 26.990283] queue_work_on+0x97/0xf0 [ 27.134382] __cpa_collapse_large_pages+0x501/0x6f0 [ 27.566662] cpa_flush+0x394/0x620 [ 27.998953] change_page_attr_set_clr+0x321/0x4a0 [ 29.151729] set_memory_rox+0xa2/0xf0 [ 29.584018] create_trampoline+0x431/0x6f0 ... [ 44.343347] Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill the idle task! The boot-time tracer is started from early_trace_init(), which runs before workqueue_init_early(). Making its trampoline read-only splits a large page, and CPA collapses it again right away. The split table has been a kernel page table since commit 9e4a3ec3411b ("x86/mm/pat: Allocate split page tables as kernel page tables"), so the collapse frees it through pagetable_free_kernel(), which queues work on system_percpu_wq - still NULL at that point. That commit is correct in itself; it only lets CPA reach pagetable_free_kernel() before the workqueue that function relies on exists. Keep putting the table on the list, but don't schedule the work while the system is still booting. A core_initcall schedules it once to free whatever was queued by then.
Who exploits it and how urgent it is
A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.
How the score was calculated
- No scoring signals.
The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.
Remediation
Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.
No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.
First 24 hours
Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.
- Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Linux Linux).
- No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
- Search available logs for exploit probes, errors and authentication anomalies.
Affected scope
Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | ≥ 84e0cd79d57f06b872154eb5d8f610584133f260 and < 7a25ca170c12a9328f6fcf4410713beb516b01c0≥ 922873cf4fc34124215070a8ad391bf831538bb9 and < df6c704a08bc0925d5db047b0a6221f962bda4d9≥ 9e4a3ec3411bb6bb59e3c1f29b75609f1e87aac4 and < 2fb552b0bee70c24c092720028ab4620f5eb2646≥ 6.18.53 and < 6.18.57≥ 7.2.7 and < 7.2.11 | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
Detection
Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.
- Not enough vector or weakness data: use the affected application’s logs as a starting point.
Timeline
What happened to this CVE, newest first.
- 2026
- Record published
- Affected products added · linux/linux
- Source status changed · → Received
- Record created in this database
- CVE published
Source activity
Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.
- 1× References added · Oct 26, 2026 – Oct 26, 2026
- 1× Official description updated · Oct 26, 2026 – Oct 26, 2026
References
3 on the record
Elsewhere on this site
Related CVEs (same products)
- Unknown CVE-2026-99092 riscv: patch: fix handling of bpf-jit execmem addresses 11h
- Unknown CVE-2026-99095 drm/vc4: drain the hangcheck timer and works on V3D unbind 11h
- Unknown CVE-2026-99096 io_uring/register: don't exempt disabled rings from task restrictions 11h
- Unknown CVE-2026-99097 tee: shm: reject zero-sized allocations in tee_dyn_shm_alloc_helper() 11h
- Unknown CVE-2026-99098 dm-integrity: fix buffer overflow in inline mode with large tag size 11h
- Unknown CVE-2026-99099 x86/CPU/AMD: Fix AMD TLBI Erratum #1718 11h
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No CVSS score published by NVD, the CNA, CISA or GitHub so far.
- No FIRST EPSS score.
- No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
- No CISA SSVC assessment.
- No CWE classification.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.
Answered from this record
Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.
What should defenders know first?
CVE-2026-99093 is "mm: don't schedule deferred kernel page table freeing while booting", rated Unknown. It affects Linux (Linux); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.
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