Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5 TTY break_ctl race condition

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$0-$5k1.81-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as very critical has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5. The impacted element is the function break_ctl of the component TTY. Such manipulation leads to race condition. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2026-98751. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5. It has been rated as very critical. Affected by this issue is the function break_ctl of the component TTY. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a race condition vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-362. The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tty: abort break signalling on hangup The break ioctls can race with hangup and end up calling into a tty driver for a device that is already gone or powered down. Drivers must handle this race, but TCSBRK and TCSBRKP should still be aborted to avoid calling back into the driver after a user-controlled timeout (possibly even after the tty has been reopened). Note that drivers should disable any break state on shutdown so just return on hangup (calling break_ctl() again is racy and will most likely fail for drivers handling the race).

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-98751 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. 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 10/18/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 or 7.3-rc6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 3bc82999fb85cecc7eb6ec1755ee7d698aa1e783/94af6cd832e9b4ce39a8fb59144a8f09ab56fd35/c8ccd3b2013daaf77b98f8a6724fcf4d2c5c52d6/845a2737e0f5ffe5ca8d38de556012b0c9472cdd is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

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

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Race condition
CWE: CWE-362
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.12.113/6.18.56/7.2.10/7.3-rc6
Patch: 3bc82999fb85cecc7eb6ec1755ee7d698aa1e783/94af6cd832e9b4ce39a8fb59144a8f09ab56fd35/c8ccd3b2013daaf77b98f8a6724fcf4d2c5c52d6/845a2737e0f5ffe5ca8d38de556012b0c9472cdd

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/18/2026 +23 days Advisory disclosed
10/18/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/18/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-98751 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98751
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-422000

Entryinfo

Created: 10/18/2026 19:45
Changes: 10/18/2026 19:45 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Want to know what is going to be exploited?

We predict KEV entries!