Linux Kernel up to 6.6.24/6.8.3/6.18.58/7.2.12 workqueue node_activate_pending_pwq 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.
9.5	$5k-$25k	0.35

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as very critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.24/6.8.3/6.18.58/7.2.12. Impacted is the function node_activate_pending_pwq of the component workqueue. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-99103. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.24/6.8.3/6.18.58/7.2.12. This affects the function node_activate_pending_pwq of the component workqueue. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: workqueue: Fix unbound pool lifetime for pending pwqs KASAN reports a use-after-free of an unbound worker_pool in node_activate_pending_pwq(): BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in _raw_spin_trylock+0x6d/0x120 Read of size 4 at addr ffff8880089ce000 by task kworker/u22:0/318 CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 318 Comm: kworker/u22:0 Not tainted 7.2.0 #1 PREEMPT(lazy) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 Workqueue: 0x0 (flush-8:0) Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x53/0x70 print_report+0xce/0x610 kasan_report+0xce/0x100 _raw_spin_trylock+0x6d/0x120 pwq_dec_nr_in_flight+0x4b4/0xcb0 process_one_work+0x921/0x11a0 worker_thread+0x4d0/0xd20 kthread+0x2de/0x3c0 ret_from_fork+0x3aa/0x620 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 </TASK> Allocated by task 311: alloc_pwq+0x439/0xca0 apply_wqattrs_prepare+0x75e/0xd10 apply_workqueue_attrs_locked+0x44/0xa0 wq_nice_store+0x350/0x450 Freed by task 0: kfree+0x127/0x3b0 rcu_core+0x523/0x1780 handle_softirqs+0x1b3/0x610 Last potentially related work creation: put_unbound_pool+0x3f3/0x7d0 pwq_release_workfn+0x494/0x8e0 kthread_worker_fn+0x1ff/0x790 Canceling the last inactive work skips pwq_dec_nr_active(), so an empty pwq can remain on pending_pwqs when its refcnt reaches zero. pwq_release_workfn() currently puts the pool before removing that pwq. If this drops the last pool reference, the pool can be RCU-freed while the pwq remains reachable, and node_activate_pending_pwq() may trylock the freed pool->lock. Remove the pwq from pending_pwqs before putting the pool.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-99103 since 09/25/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/28/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.6.25, 6.8.4, 6.18.59 or 7.2.13 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 6741dd3fd38e47c08bc39d11ef5fa141fa6d0441/9f5d5aef3072a33c6f9bfb954bb0cba1c2541849/f320b85c90fe5fc9d4d06badd450518323a94a7f/3d2ef2b9f4c084ab498494d26495a82f7e15407b/cf9c8aaea0d47410df8708bec195889f3a85cd3c is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.0
• 6.6.1
• 6.6.2
• 6.6.3
• 6.6.4
• 6.6.5
• 6.6.6
• 6.6.7
• 6.6.8
• 6.6.9
• 6.6.10
• 6.6.11
• 6.6.12
• 6.6.13
• 6.6.14
• 6.6.15
• 6.6.16
• 6.6.17
• 6.6.18
• 6.6.19
• 6.6.20
• 6.6.21
• 6.6.22
• 6.6.23
• 6.6.24
• 6.8.0
• 6.8.1
• 6.8.2
• 6.8.3
• 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
• 6.18.54
• 6.18.55
• 6.18.56
• 6.18.57
• 6.18.58
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.2.8
• 7.2.9
• 7.2.10
• 7.2.11
• 7.2.12

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: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
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 6.6.25/6.8.4/6.18.59/7.2.13
Patch: 6741dd3fd38e47c08bc39d11ef5fa141fa6d0441/9f5d5aef3072a33c6f9bfb954bb0cba1c2541849/f320b85c90fe5fc9d4d06badd450518323a94a7f/3d2ef2b9f4c084ab498494d26495a82f7e15407b/cf9c8aaea0d47410df8708bec195889f3a85cd3c

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/28/2026 +33 days Advisory disclosed
10/28/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/28/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-99103 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-99103
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-427905

Entryinfo

Created: 10/28/2026 12:46
Changes: 10/28/2026 12:46 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion

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