CVE-2026-98049
Received Received - Intake

BPF Arena 32-bit Cmpxchg Zero Extension Issue

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-98049, 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

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: zero extend the result of an arena 32-bit cmpxchg bpf_convert_ctx_accesses() rewrites an atomic on an arena pointer from BPF_STX | BPF_ATOMIC to BPF_STX | BPF_PROBE_ATOMIC, and it runs before bpf_opt_subreg_zext_lo32_rnd_hi32(). That pass emits an explicit zero extension for a 32-bit cmpxchg even when bpf_jit_needs_zext() is false. This is done because on some architectures 32-bit cmpxchg requires explicit zero extension for the dst register. E.g. on x86-64 'lock cmpxchg' does not change the %eax if comparison is successful, while BPF semantics declare that each operation on a 32-bit register zero extends it's upper half. is_cmpxchg_insn() matches BPF_MODE == BPF_ATOMIC only, so an arena cmpxchg misses said zero extension adjustment. This patch adjusts is_cmpxchg_insn() to match BPF_PROBE_ATOMIC alongside BPF_ATOMIC.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-09-25
Last Modified
2026-09-25
Generated
2026-09-25
AI Q&A
2026-09-25
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

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

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

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Executive Summary

This is a Linux kernel vulnerability where a 32-bit cmpxchg operation on an arena pointer is not properly zero-extended. The bpf_convert_ctx_accesses() function rewrites atomic operations but runs before the zero-extension pass. This causes issues on some architectures where 32-bit cmpxchg requires explicit zero extension for the destination register.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability could lead to incorrect behavior in BPF programs using arena pointers with 32-bit cmpxchg operations. It may cause data corruption or unexpected system behavior if the upper bits of registers are not properly zeroed after cmpxchg operations.

Mitigation Strategies

Update the Linux kernel to the latest patched version to resolve this vulnerability. Monitor vendor advisories for kernel updates and apply them promptly.

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