Linux Kernel up to 7.2.5 IB/isert isert_put_login_tx null pointer dereference

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.
6.2$0-$5k0.00-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as critical has been discovered in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.5. The impacted element is the function isert_put_login_tx of the component IB/isert. Such manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2026-90294. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. No exploit is 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 7.2.5. Affected by this issue is the function isert_put_login_tx of the component IB/isert. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. Impacted is availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: IB/isert: delay the final Login Response until the session is registered isert_put_login_tx() puts the final Login Response on the wire before __transport_register_session(), which iscsi_post_login_handler() reaches only after iscsi_target_do_login() returns. An initiator that issues a SCSI command as soon as it sees that response can have it executed against an se_session whose se_tpg is still NULL, and the ib-comp-wq worker oopses on the NULL dereference. Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc000000000f: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000078-0x000000000000007f] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 178 Comm: kworker/0:1H Not tainted 7.2.0-rc5-V2CTL-gf5098b6bae76 #10 PREEMPT(lazy) Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC v2 (i440FX + PIIX, arch_caps fix, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 Workqueue: ib-comp-wq ib_cq_poll_work RIP: 0010:target_submit+0xbe/0x390 Code: fa 48 c1 ea 03 80 3c 02 00 0f 85 89 02 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 4d 8b 64 24 18 49 8d 7c 24 78 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02 00 0f 85 5a 02 00 00 48 8d 7b 78 4d 8b 6c 24 78 48 b8 00 RSP: 0018:ffff8881058cfa78 EFLAGS: 00010206 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: ffff88810c78c6f0 RCX: ffffffff964bb363 RDX: 000000000000000f RSI: 00000000fffffe00 RDI: 0000000000000078 RBP: 1ffff11020b19f52 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed1020b19f52 R10: 0000000000000003 R11: ffff88810596c000 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: ffff88810c61b000 R14: ffff88810c6a3400 R15: ffff88810c61b044 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8881822b2000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f1f1b83c000 CR3: 000000006fe72001 CR4: 0000000000770ef0 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <TASK> ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_bh+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_target_submit+0x10/0x10 ? mutex_lock+0x81/0xe0 ? __pfx_mutex_lock+0x10/0x10 ? iscsit_execute_cmd+0x650/0x850 iscsit_sequence_cmd+0x186/0x3d0 iscsit_process_scsi_cmd+0x87/0x300 isert_recv_done+0x1002/0x2390 ? __pfx_isert_recv_done+0x10/0x10 ? rxe_poll_cq+0x253/0x3d0 ? finish_task_switch.isra.0+0x1dc/0xa70 __ib_process_cq+0xe1/0x390 ib_cq_poll_work+0x46/0x150 process_one_work+0x633/0x1030 ? assign_work+0x11d/0x370 worker_thread+0x45b/0xd10 ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 kthread+0x2c6/0x3b0 ? recalc_sigpending+0x15c/0x1e0 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x36e/0x5a0 ? __pfx_ret_from_fork+0x10/0x10 ? __switch_to+0x572/0xdd0 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 </TASK> Modules linked in: ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Delay the final Login Response instead. isert_get_rx_pdu() runs from iscsi_target_rx_thread() after conn->rx_login_comp, completed by iscsi_post_login_handler() after __transport_register_session(); iscsi-TCP and cxgbit already take PDUs from that thread, isert alone does not. The buffers are still posted first, so the initiator's first command does not meet an empty receive queue and nothing depends on RNR flow control, and the header and payload live in isert_conn, not in the struct iscsi_login that iscsi_target_nego_release() frees first. Over rxe, 400 login cycles per run, the oops appeared in 10 of 20 unpatched runs and in none of 20 runs with this patch. An initiator that never waits is handled by the next patch. Not tested: iWARP, discovery sessions over iSER, and real HCAs.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-90294 since 09/11/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 09/18/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 347694 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-90294), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.10.270, 5.15.221, 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.110, 6.18.52, 7.2.6 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch e148dbac43308d9e4313070bfc5b355d03134809/a18fb8d540b3e631cb7e50e55f3c462c05b3a114/0d2efc355982064855f24f73f9fbb6c65ca4a5c7/f84e9adf4d9f4c0c79ef4a7d9e0c5c08b1337033/11694889c4bab47047a60690ceb70d7551ed5b2e/a6c19af05c170f267eca1d01c3c72c84ba7860ae/4397ea31e3b0d017c2b9b876b326df0b3eb845bf/464f5afa92d071a226f88424803b0fcf88093ede is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (347694). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.2

VulDB Base Score: 6.5
VulDB Temp Score: 6.2
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

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

Exploitinginfo

Class: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

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

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Nessus ID: 347694
Nessus Name: Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-90294

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.10.270/5.15.221/6.1.188/6.6.157/6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc1
Patch: e148dbac43308d9e4313070bfc5b355d03134809/a18fb8d540b3e631cb7e50e55f3c462c05b3a114/0d2efc355982064855f24f73f9fbb6c65ca4a5c7/f84e9adf4d9f4c0c79ef4a7d9e0c5c08b1337033/11694889c4bab47047a60690ceb70d7551ed5b2e/a6c19af05c170f267eca1d01c3c72c84ba7860ae/4397ea31e3b0d017c2b9b876b326df0b3eb845bf/464f5afa92d071a226f88424803b0fcf88093ede

Timelineinfo

09/11/2026 CVE reserved
09/17/2026 +6 days Advisory disclosed
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/18/2026 +1 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-90294 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-90294
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-406820

Entryinfo

Created: 09/17/2026 21:22
Updated: 09/18/2026 12:54
Changes: 09/17/2026 21:22 (59), 09/18/2026 12:54 (2)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Do you need the next level of professionalism?

Upgrade your account now!