Vulnerability-Lookup

GHSA-R5W5-QJWH-6PQ3

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-10-18 18:31 – Updated: 2026-10-18 18:31

Details

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

perf/core: Fill branch entries with a single assignment

perf_clear_branch_entry_bitfields() clears the bitfields of struct perf_branch_entry one by one and leaves from/to alone, since callers overwrite those straight away. The list has to be kept in sync with the struct by hand and has already fallen behind: new_type and priv were added to perf_branch_entry and never added here.

Only BRBE writes those two, and neither for every record. brbe_set_perf_entry_type() leaves new_type alone for a branch type it does not recognise, and priv is not set for source-only records. arm_pmuv3.c allocates the per-CPU branch stack with kmalloc(), so such a record reaches userspace with whatever the slot held: uninitialised kmalloc() data on the first pass over the buffer, the previous record's values after that. Nothing under arch/x86/events/ writes either field, so only arm64 is affected.

Assign the whole entry at each site instead. Everything not named is then zero, and there is no list to keep in sync. The bitfields add up to exactly 64 bits, so the struct has no padding to leave undefined.

perf_clear_branch_entry_bitfields() has no callers left, so remove it. perf_entry_from_brbe_regset() assigns an empty literal instead, since it fills from/to conditionally. PERF_BR_SPEC_NA is 0, so dropping the explicit spec assignment changes nothing.

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{
  "affected": [],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-98551"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [],
    "github_reviewed": false,
    "github_reviewed_at": null,
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-10-18T16:17:07Z",
    "severity": null
  },
  "details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nperf/core: Fill branch entries with a single assignment\n\nperf_clear_branch_entry_bitfields() clears the bitfields of struct\nperf_branch_entry one by one and leaves from/to alone, since callers\noverwrite those straight away. The list has to be kept in sync with the\nstruct by hand and has already fallen behind: new_type and priv were\nadded to perf_branch_entry and never added here.\n\nOnly BRBE writes those two, and neither for every record.\nbrbe_set_perf_entry_type() leaves new_type alone for a branch type it\ndoes not recognise, and priv is not set for source-only records.\narm_pmuv3.c allocates the per-CPU branch stack with kmalloc(), so such a\nrecord reaches userspace with whatever the slot held: uninitialised\nkmalloc() data on the first pass over the buffer, the previous record\u0027s\nvalues after that. Nothing under arch/x86/events/ writes either field,\nso only arm64 is affected.\n\nAssign the whole entry at each site instead. Everything not named is\nthen zero, and there is no list to keep in sync. The bitfields add up to\nexactly 64 bits, so the struct has no padding to leave undefined.\n\nperf_clear_branch_entry_bitfields() has no callers left, so remove it.\nperf_entry_from_brbe_regset() assigns an empty literal instead, since it\nfills from/to conditionally. PERF_BR_SPEC_NA is 0, so dropping the\nexplicit spec assignment changes nothing.",
  "id": "GHSA-r5w5-qjwh-6pq3",
  "modified": "2026-10-18T18:31:54Z",
  "published": "2026-10-18T18:31:54Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98551"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/24b620729e53d978b3e425f55bc66efd3bab1f59"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c7de8521947a521b766979ff5c09f66fe905a5bd"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": []
}

CVE-2026-98551 (GCVE-0-2026-98551)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-10-18 15:18 – Updated: 2026-10-19 09:21

Title

perf/core: Fill branch entries with a single assignment

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/core: Fill branch entries with a single assignment perf_clear_branch_entry_bitfields() clears the bitfields of struct perf_branch_entry one by one and leaves from/to alone, since callers overwrite those straight away. The list has to be kept in sync with the struct by hand and has already fallen behind: new_type and priv were added to perf_branch_entry and never added here. Only BRBE writes those two, and neither for every record. brbe_set_perf_entry_type() leaves new_type alone for a branch type it does not recognise, and priv is not set for source-only records. arm_pmuv3.c allocates the per-CPU branch stack with kmalloc(), so such a record reaches userspace with whatever the slot held: uninitialised kmalloc() data on the first pass over the buffer, the previous record's values after that. Nothing under arch/x86/events/ writes either field, so only arm64 is affected. Assign the whole entry at each site instead. Everything not named is then zero, and there is no list to keep in sync. The bitfields add up to exactly 64 bits, so the struct has no padding to leave undefined. perf_clear_branch_entry_bitfields() has no callers left, so remove it. perf_entry_from_brbe_regset() assigns an empty literal instead, since it fills from/to conditionally. PERF_BR_SPEC_NA is 0, so dropping the explicit spec assignment changes nothing.

Severity

No CVSS data available.

Assigner

Linux CNA under the mitre root

CNA scorecard D 53/100 over 6641 records in the last 180 days details

References

2 references

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c7de8521947a521b7…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/24b620729e53d978b…

Impacted products

2 products

Vendor	Product	Version
Linux	Linux	Affected: b190bc4ac9e6d9763b61654c5a0c085ff77d7a09 , < c7de8521947a521b766979ff5c09f66fe905a5bd (git) Affected: b190bc4ac9e6d9763b61654c5a0c085ff77d7a09 , < 24b620729e53d978b3e425f55bc66efd3bab1f59 (git)
Linux	Linux	Affected: 6.1 Unaffected: 0 , < 6.1 (semver) Unaffected: 7.2.9 , ≤ 7.2.* (semver) Unaffected: 7.3 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)

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JSON

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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "arch/x86/events/amd/brs.c",
            "arch/x86/events/amd/lbr.c",
            "arch/x86/events/intel/lbr.c",
            "drivers/perf/arm_brbe.c",
            "include/linux/perf_event.h"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "c7de8521947a521b766979ff5c09f66fe905a5bd",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "b190bc4ac9e6d9763b61654c5a0c085ff77d7a09",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "24b620729e53d978b3e425f55bc66efd3bab1f59",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "b190bc4ac9e6d9763b61654c5a0c085ff77d7a09",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "arch/x86/events/amd/brs.c",
            "arch/x86/events/amd/lbr.c",
            "arch/x86/events/intel/lbr.c",
            "drivers/perf/arm_brbe.c",
            "include/linux/perf_event.h"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.1"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "6.1",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.2.9",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.3",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.2.9",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.1",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.3",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.1",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nperf/core: Fill branch entries with a single assignment\n\nperf_clear_branch_entry_bitfields() clears the bitfields of struct\nperf_branch_entry one by one and leaves from/to alone, since callers\noverwrite those straight away. The list has to be kept in sync with the\nstruct by hand and has already fallen behind: new_type and priv were\nadded to perf_branch_entry and never added here.\n\nOnly BRBE writes those two, and neither for every record.\nbrbe_set_perf_entry_type() leaves new_type alone for a branch type it\ndoes not recognise, and priv is not set for source-only records.\narm_pmuv3.c allocates the per-CPU branch stack with kmalloc(), so such a\nrecord reaches userspace with whatever the slot held: uninitialised\nkmalloc() data on the first pass over the buffer, the previous record\u0027s\nvalues after that. Nothing under arch/x86/events/ writes either field,\nso only arm64 is affected.\n\nAssign the whole entry at each site instead. Everything not named is\nthen zero, and there is no list to keep in sync. The bitfields add up to\nexactly 64 bits, so the struct has no padding to leave undefined.\n\nperf_clear_branch_entry_bitfields() has no callers left, so remove it.\nperf_entry_from_brbe_regset() assigns an empty literal instead, since it\nfills from/to conditionally. PERF_BR_SPEC_NA is 0, so dropping the\nexplicit spec assignment changes nothing."
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-10-19T09:21:34.288Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c7de8521947a521b766979ff5c09f66fe905a5bd"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/24b620729e53d978b3e425f55bc66efd3bab1f59"
        }
      ],
      "title": "perf/core: Fill branch entries with a single assignment",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-98551",
    "datePublished": "2026-10-18T15:18:19.008Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-09-25T10:25:14.356Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-10-19T09:21:34.288Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Vulnerability timeline

Sightings and recorded dates, grouped by day · UTC

Order JSON

How durations are calculated

Following the VTEM framework (Black Hat USA 2015), time to patch starts when the vendor or a coordinator was informed, total time to patch at discovery, and disclosure to patch at public disclosure; vendor response time runs from the report to its acknowledgement. Time to exploit and time unpatched start at the earliest discovery or report, falling back to public disclosure. Unpatched time ends at the first recorded patch, or the calculation time when no patch is recorded. Exploitation to patch shows the interval between those two events; a published proof of concept is a public exploit, not exploitation.

Each result shows its source dates. A negative interval means the end event came first; when date-only inputs leave the order open, the result says so. Date-only inputs are approximate. The earliest evidence wins: KEV report dates and sightings are labelled as such. Records describing another vulnerability are listed but never calculated from, and a PoC alone does not establish exploitation. Missing patch evidence does not prove that no patch exists. Filters below change the event list only.

Publication & reservation Sightings KEV catalogs Other timestamps

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The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
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