Linux Kernel up to 6.18.51/7.2.5 arm_pmuv3 uninitialized variable

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
9.5	$0-$5k	0.00+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.51/7.2.5 and classified as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the component arm_pmuv3. Such manipulation leads to uninitialized variable. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-90272. The attack can be launched remotely. No exploit exists. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.51/7.2.5. Affected by this issue is an unknown code of the component arm_pmuv3. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a uninitialized variable vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-457. The code uses a variable that has not been initialized, leading to unpredictable or unintended results. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf: arm_pmuv3: Zero initialize hw_id branch stack field PERF_SAMPLE_BRANCH_HW_INDEX is supported by BRBE so hw_id is passed to userspace, but it's never set by the BRBE driver. Zero initialize it as it should be according to the docs: * For the architectures whose raw branch records are * already stored in age order, the hw_idx should be 0. It's probably too risky to remove PERF_SAMPLE_BRANCH_HW_INDEX from BRBE now in case anyone is setting it and reading the value, but zero initializing the whole struct also protects against the same issue with new fields that are added in the future.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-90272 since 09/11/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not available. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/17/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.52, 7.2.6 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 57b72442c1672963fd51ab441ca1b71f6dc79b66/988e11b69ef9d4034e19c64407030fa948580c3d/7c3b63386c27bed8d59a4b4c283d02860420eb0a is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Uninitialized variable
CWE: CWE-457 / CWE-453
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc1
Patch: 57b72442c1672963fd51ab441ca1b71f6dc79b66/988e11b69ef9d4034e19c64407030fa948580c3d/7c3b63386c27bed8d59a4b4c283d02860420eb0a

Timelineinfo

09/11/2026 CVE reserved
09/17/2026 +6 days Advisory disclosed
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-90272 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-90272
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-406802

Entryinfo

Created: 09/17/2026 21:15
Changes: 09/17/2026 21:15 (58)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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