CVE-2026-97960
Received
Received - Intake
Buffer Overflow in Linux Kernel perf/x86/intel
Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-97960, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.
Publication date: 2026-09-25
Last updated on: 2026-09-25
Assigner: kernel.org
Description
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
perf/x86/intel: Prevent drain_pebs() reentry
The PEBS buffer is shared by all events on a CPU, so drain_pebs() must
not be reentered. If so, one instance may observe stale buffer state and
potentially access out-of-bound memory.
Most invocations happen in NMI context, which naturally prevents reentry.
However, drain_pebs() is also reachable from process context via
intel_pmu_drain_pebs_buffer().
In those paths, the PMU is often already disabled, but not guaranteed.
For example, __intel_pmu_pebs_disable() only disables the target counter,
so other active counters can still raise a PMI and interrupt an in-flight
drain_pebs(). Here is an example,
__perf_addr_filters_adjust()
perf_event_stop()
__perf_event_stop()
x86_pmu_stop() (event->pmu->stop)
intel_pmu_disable_event()
intel_pmu_pebs_disable()
__intel_pmu_pebs_disable()
intel_pmu_drain_large_pebs()
intel_pmu_drain_pebs_buffer()
Introduce __intel_pmu_quiesce() and __intel_pmu_resume() helpers and
use them in intel_pmu_drain_large_pebs() to disable the full PMU
around the intel_pmu_drain_pebs_buffer() call, preventing reentry.
Also add a warning in intel_pmu_drain_pebs_buffer() when the full PMU is
not disabled.
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | * |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
KEV
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-UNKNOWN |
