Linux Kernel up to 7.2.6/7.3-rc1 tracing ring_buffer_alloc_read_page missing initialization

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as problematic has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.6/7.3-rc1. Impacted is the function ring_buffer_alloc_read_page of the component tracing. The manipulation results in missing initialization. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2026-98032. The attack must be initiated from a local position. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.6/7.3-rc1. Affected is the function ring_buffer_alloc_read_page of the component tracing. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a missing initialization vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-456. The product does not initialize critical variables, which causes the execution environment to use unexpected values. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing: Fix subbuf resize races with trace_pipe_raw readers Concurrent subbuffer resizes may crash trace_pipe_raw readers or leak uninitialized memory to userspace due to stale size values. Modify ring_buffer_alloc_read_page() to handle the resizing of an existing buffer_data_read_page if necessary and add a new ring_buffer_read_page_size(). This new function enables ring-buffer buffer_data_read_page users to not call the racy ring_buffer_subbuf_size_get(). This makes the spare_size member of ftrace_buffer_info redundant. Finally, handle buffer_data_read_page/reader_page order discrepancy in ring_buffer_read_page(). On a mismatch simply copy manually the data to the buffer_data_read_page.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-98032 since 09/25/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. 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 09/25/2026).

Upgrading to version 7.2.7 or 7.3-rc2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 75b37b8369778b69ce9738d1c97685a1615cb252/dae8dda341d2d9034a90d59e8a7d502e1263813f is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.3-rc1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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