Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2 octeontx2-pf allocation of resources

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.
8.7	$0-$5k	0.00+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2. It has been rated as very critical. This impacts the function otx2_qos_reset_schq_topology/otx2_qos_free_hw_schq of the component octeontx2-pf. This manipulation causes allocation of resources. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-97966. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2. Affected by this vulnerability is the function otx2_qos_reset_schq_topology/otx2_qos_free_hw_schq of the component octeontx2-pf. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a allocation of resources vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-770. The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated, in violation of the intended security policy for that actor. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: octeontx2-pf: reset HTB scheduler topology before freeing queues HTB offload programs NIX_AF_TLxX_TOPOLOGY on QoS-allocated scheduler queues via otx2_qos_txschq_set_parent_topology(), but teardown freed those queues without clearing TOPOLOGY. The AF only restores PARENT and SCHEDULE on free, so PRIO_ANCHOR/RR_PRIO settings can survive in the shared scheduler pool and affect later allocations. Add otx2_qos_reset_schq_topology() and otx2_qos_free_hw_schq() to zero TL4 through TL2 TOPOLOGY before each schq is returned to the AF during hierarchy teardown and cfg rollback. Skip the aggregation level (TL1): it is a per-tx-link queue shared by the PF, default Tx hierarchy and VFs, and is not freed back to the AF by nix_txschq_free_one().

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-97966 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation needs additional levels of successful authentication. 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 09/25/2026). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1499 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 6.12.111, 6.18.53, 7.2.7 or 7.3-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 0aa2dd6eaa347c7aab448df0eec0afcfe7489885/621c99be42e3f5cb68a6af9480a255218a761c4e/2df186418e17b30b319cf9ff81aad137692ab107/ef39fca8508597fa565cf2be72a884a712fb98af 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

• 6.12.110
• 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
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2

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: 9.1
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.7

VulDB Base Score: 9.1
VulDB Temp Score: 8.7
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: Allocation of resources
CWE: CWE-770 / CWE-400 / CWE-404
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 6.12.111/6.18.53/7.2.7/7.3-rc3
Patch: 0aa2dd6eaa347c7aab448df0eec0afcfe7489885/621c99be42e3f5cb68a6af9480a255218a761c4e/2df186418e17b30b319cf9ff81aad137692ab107/ef39fca8508597fa565cf2be72a884a712fb98af

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 Advisory disclosed
09/25/2026 +0 days CVE reserved
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-2026-97966 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-97966
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-410221

Entryinfo

Created: 09/25/2026 15:48
Changes: 09/25/2026 15:48 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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