CVE-2026-97441
Received Received - Intake

Kernel Panic in Linux AHCI Due to BAR Size Mismatch

Publication date: 2026-09-24

Last updated on: 2026-09-24

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ata: ahci: fail probe if BAR too small for claimed ports When an AHCI controller is disabled in BIOS, its HOST_CAP register may contain a bogus value, e.g. 0xFFFFFFFF. Since CAP.NP (Number of Ports) is a zeroes based 5-bit register field, a value of 0x1f means 32 ports. If CAP.NP claims more ports than can physically fit within the mapped BAR region, accessing port registers beyond the BAR boundary causes a kernel panic. Add validation in ahci_init_one() to check that the BAR size is sufficient for the number of ports claimed in CAP.NP. The check calculates the required MMIO size as: required_size = 0x100 (global registers) + max_ports * 0x80 If required_size exceeds the actual BAR size, the probe fails with -ENODEV, preventing the panic and providing a clear error message. [cassel: commit log]

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Meta Information

Published
2026-09-24
Last Modified
2026-09-24
Generated
2026-09-24
AI Q&A
2026-09-24
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-97441
EUVD
EUVD-2026-86054

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel *

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Exploitability

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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability affects the Linux kernel's AHCI driver for SATA controllers. When an AHCI controller is disabled in BIOS, its HOST_CAP register may contain an incorrect value indicating more ports than physically supported. This can cause the kernel to access memory outside the allocated BAR region, leading to a kernel panic. The fix adds a check in ahci_init_one() to validate if the BAR size is sufficient for the claimed ports.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability is specific to the Linux kernel's AHCI driver and requires kernel-level inspection. Check kernel logs for AHCI probe failures or panics related to BAR size mismatches. Use dmesg | grep ahci to review AHCI-related messages. If the system crashes during AHCI controller initialization, this may indicate the issue.

Impact Analysis

If your system uses an AHCI controller disabled in BIOS, this vulnerability could cause a kernel panic during boot or when the controller is probed. This results in system crashes, data loss, or denial of service. Systems with AHCI controllers enabled in BIOS are not affected.

Mitigation Strategies

Update the Linux kernel to a patched version that includes the fix for this AHCI BAR size validation. If updating is not immediately possible, disable the problematic AHCI controller in BIOS or recompile the kernel with the validation patch applied.

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