Linux Kernel up to 6.18.52/7.2.6 qla2xxx qla24xx_report_id_acquisition use after free

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	$5k-$25k	0.43+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.52/7.2.6. It has been classified as very critical. Affected is the function qla24xx_report_id_acquisition of the component qla2xxx. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2026-97531. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.52/7.2.6. This issue affects the function qla24xx_report_id_acquisition of the component qla2xxx. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: qla2xxx: Skip vport under deletion in report ID acquisition qla24xx_report_id_acquisition() format-1 handling walks ha->vp_list under vport_slock, takes a vref_count on the matching vport and calls qla_update_host_map() to register its port id. A vport teardown via qla24xx_vport_delete() sets VPORT_DELETE, then qla24xx_disable_vp() removes the vport from the host_map btree and zeroes vha->d_id (RESET_AL_PA). The vport is only unlinked from vp_list later, in qla24xx_deallocate_vp_id(), which clears vp_map[idx] (RESET_VP_IDX) but does not touch host_map. In the window in between, report ID acquisition can still find the vport on vp_list and call qla_update_host_map(); with d_id already zeroed it takes the btree_insert32() path and re-inserts the dying vport into host_map. Nothing cleans that entry afterwards, so once scsi_host_put() frees the vha a later host_map lookup dereferences freed memory. Skip a vport that has VPORT_DELETE set before taking the reference, so it is neither re-registered nor scheduled for DPC re-registration. This mirrors the existing guard in qla2x00_alert_all_vps().

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-97531 since 09/24/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/25/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.53, 7.2.7 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch d61e8de98c5a52978fb1edd95fe4dde3131b280e/7a83979d92782f83c90888ebe19bdc9420521940/23582731afa35031c94fadb71a4f3b4afd094649 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider 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
• 6.18.52
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6

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: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
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 6.18.53/7.2.7/7.3-rc1
Patch: d61e8de98c5a52978fb1edd95fe4dde3131b280e/7a83979d92782f83c90888ebe19bdc9420521940/23582731afa35031c94fadb71a4f3b4afd094649

Timelineinfo

09/24/2026 CVE reserved
09/25/2026 +1 days Advisory disclosed
09/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-97531 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-97531
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-409925

Entryinfo

Created: 09/25/2026 12:53
Changes: 09/25/2026 12:53 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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