Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3 dmaengine dma_device_release 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.
7.8	$0-$5k	0.00+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as very critical has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3. Affected by this vulnerability is the function dma_device_release of the component dmaengine. Such manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-98342. Local access is required to approach this attack. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3. It has been rated as very critical. Affected by this issue is the function dma_device_release of the component dmaengine. 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. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: wait for RCU readers before releasing dma_device dma_issue_pending_all() walks the dma_device_list with list_for_each_entry_rcu() under rcu_read_lock(). dma_device_release() unlinks the device with list_del_rcu() and then calls device->device_release() (which in many drivers, such as plx_dma.c, directly calls kfree()). Because there is no grace period between unlinking the device and freeing it, concurrent RCU readers in dma_issue_pending_all() can access the device after it has been freed. The lockless walk originally relied on clients holding a dmaengine reference to pin the provider module, and therefore the device, for as long as they might traverse the list. Commit 8ad342a86359 ("dmaengine: Add reference counting to dma_device struct") decoupled the dma_device lifetime from the module reference, so the device can now be released while a reader is still walking the list. Add synchronize_rcu() before the device is freed, so RCU readers are guaranteed to have finished. Keep it unconditional: providers that do not implement device_release() free the device themselves once dma_async_device_unregister() returns. This call will delay for a grace period with dma_list_mutex held, which is safe and only teardown path is delayed.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-98342 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. Local access is required to approach this attack. Additional levels of successful authentication are required for exploitation. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/06/2026).

Upgrading to version 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.54, 7.2.8 or 7.3-rc4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch ac8ce9f89638d6d79875cca7d8ae42566a9bde15/14578c78405d51fa92e4ada4502a45f537c0fcb8/cbb3310a5167e868a5e763e32b9a23b4d50669ee/8577a5ec4f7e00443015ef99f646def093121a1b/4448a539a0c39141cccc67be6cacde0f35024313/fc1f4884f1d46fc7a8cee6e2997ecc9e8d1c7f77/4aed7e47a10b94ea3c5171e8d1382081accd2e03/dc750422170a563c7a81f6e49d36bb02c62ae37f 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

• 5.10.270
• 5.15.221
• 6.1.188
• 6.6.157
• 6.12.111
• 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
• 6.18.53
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2
• 7.3-rc3

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: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
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 5.10.271/5.15.222/6.1.189/6.6.158/6.12.112/6.18.54/7.2.8/7.3-rc4
Patch: ac8ce9f89638d6d79875cca7d8ae42566a9bde15/14578c78405d51fa92e4ada4502a45f537c0fcb8/cbb3310a5167e868a5e763e32b9a23b4d50669ee/8577a5ec4f7e00443015ef99f646def093121a1b/4448a539a0c39141cccc67be6cacde0f35024313/fc1f4884f1d46fc7a8cee6e2997ecc9e8d1c7f77/4aed7e47a10b94ea3c5171e8d1382081accd2e03/dc750422170a563c7a81f6e49d36bb02c62ae37f

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/06/2026 +11 days Advisory disclosed
10/06/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/06/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-98342 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98342
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-414062

Entryinfo

Created: 10/06/2026 12:27
Changes: 10/06/2026 12:27 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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