Linux Kernel up to 6.12.111/6.18.53/7.2.7/7.3-rc3 KEYS encrypted_key_alloc integer overflow

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	0.54

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.111/6.18.53/7.2.7/7.3-rc3. This vulnerability affects the function encrypted_key_alloc of the component KEYS. The manipulation results in integer overflow. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-98222. The attack can be executed remotely. There is not any exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.111/6.18.53/7.2.7/7.3-rc3. It has been classified as very critical. Affected is the function encrypted_key_alloc of the component KEYS. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a integer overflow vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-190. The product performs a calculation that can produce an integer overflow or wraparound, when the logic assumes that the resulting value will always be larger than the original value. This can introduce other weaknesses when the calculation is used for resource management or execution control. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KEYS: encrypted: fix integer overflow of datablob_len encrypted_key_alloc() stores datablob_len in a u16. It is computed from multiple string and payload lengths. If the result exceeds U16_MAX, the assignment truncates the allocation size. KASAN reports a 32760-byte slab-out-of-bounds write when __ekey_init() copies the master key description into the undersized buffer. The total payload length stored in key->datalen is also a u16. Use check_add_overflow() to reject values that do not fit either destination, and use kzalloc_flex() for the flexible-array allocation.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-98222 since 09/25/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/06/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.12.112, 6.18.54, 7.2.8 or 7.3-rc4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 1e720f63dbafc093a8f5d519f05b67724993edd4/a1a98eca102b1cbbc37ff9eaa197ae4e6a3ea4b0/cca38f2102a4cd35eda8d48950df4817b4b24757/8697c431e297eb0d0ab13dda6bc172b48a34f05c 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

• 6.12.111
• 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: 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: Integer overflow
CWE: CWE-190 / CWE-189
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 6.12.112/6.18.54/7.2.8/7.3-rc4
Patch: 1e720f63dbafc093a8f5d519f05b67724993edd4/a1a98eca102b1cbbc37ff9eaa197ae4e6a3ea4b0/cca38f2102a4cd35eda8d48950df4817b4b24757/8697c431e297eb0d0ab13dda6bc172b48a34f05c

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-2026-98222 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98222
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-414186

Entryinfo

Created: 10/06/2026 13:29
Changes: 10/06/2026 13:29 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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