Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc1 BPF is_branch_taken comparison

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.
7.8	$0-$5k	0.00+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc1. Affected by this vulnerability is the function is_branch_taken of the component BPF. The manipulation results in comparison. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-98041. The attack is only possible with local access. There is not any exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc1. Affected is the function is_branch_taken of the component BPF. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a comparison vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-697. The product compares two entities in a security-relevant context, but the comparison is incorrect, which may lead to resultant weaknesses. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Don't predict JMP32 pointer vs zero comparisons Consider the following program: r1 = map_value; /* low 32 bits are zero at runtime */ r6 = 0xdead000000000000; if w1 != 0 goto l1; l0: r1 += r6; r2 = *(u64 *)(r1 + 0); exit; l1: r6 = 0; goto l0; At the moment is_branch_taken() reports the jump as always taken, because it does not distinguish between BPF_JMP and BPF_JMP32 comparisons when processing 'if w1 != 0 ...'.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-98041 since 09/25/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. The exploitation needs additional levels of successful authentication. 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 6.12.111, 6.18.53, 7.2.7 or 7.3-rc2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch d16f0eafcaa62e677a2b5b0dabc1f8d31dfe3d4d/e2ae33247e8b2dbe9d116d3e61cadf6d548339c6/a4d7f94c1ca914469ced665ec2f98be669aef462/e51179a4e09846f8fd0f26a05068520de2b301bf 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

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: 8.2
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.8

VulDB Base Score: 8.2
VulDB Temp Score: 7.8
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: Comparison
CWE: CWE-697
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

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-rc2
Patch: d16f0eafcaa62e677a2b5b0dabc1f8d31dfe3d4d/e2ae33247e8b2dbe9d116d3e61cadf6d548339c6/a4d7f94c1ca914469ced665ec2f98be669aef462/e51179a4e09846f8fd0f26a05068520de2b301bf

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-2026-98041 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98041
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-410256

Entryinfo

Created: 09/25/2026 16:10
Changes: 09/25/2026 16:10 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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