Linux Kernel up to 7.0.0 clockevents next_event_forced state issue

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.0.0. Affected by this vulnerability is the function next_event_forced of the component clockevents. The manipulation leads to state issue. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-31574. There is not any exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.0.0. This issue affects the function next_event_forced of the component clockevents. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a state issue vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-371. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: clockevents: Add missing resets of the next_event_forced flag The prevention mechanism against timer interrupt starvation missed to reset the next_event_forced flag in a couple of places: - When the clock event state changes. That can cause the flag to be stale over a shutdown/startup sequence - When a non-forced event is armed, which then prevents rearming before that event. If that event is far out in the future this will cause missed timer interrupts. - In the suspend wakeup handler. That led to stalls which have been reported by several people. Add the missing resets, which fixes the problems for the reporters.

The weakness was released by shutdown. The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-31574 since 03/09/2026. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 05/26/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 310312 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-31574), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 7.0.1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 9401b593fa48218d2667df1610b0ebc518554880 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (310312) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-1279). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 7.0

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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