CVE-2026-98999
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AI Threat Summary
CVE-2026-98999 is a high-severity vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 affecting the target software. Threat hunters should monitor for exploit attempts and apply vendor patches immediately.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/xe: Fix stale pinned_link entry when fb-pin performs the final unpin xe_bo_pin_external() and xe_bo_unpin_external() maintain the bo's pinned_link list membership in xe->pinned.late.external, based on whether the current call is the outermost pin or the final unpin. However, the same external bo's pin_count can also be raised and lowered directly by __xe_pin_fb_vma()/__xe_unpin_fb_vma(), which pin the bo as a display scanout buffer without going through xe_bo_pin_external()/xe_bo_unpin_external() at all, and have no notion of, or ownership over, pinned_link. If a bo is pinned both externally (e.g. dma-buf export) and as an fb, and the external unpin happens first, xe_bo_unpin_external() correctly observes pin_count > 1 and leaves the bo on pinned_link. When the fb unpin later performs the true last unpin (pin_count 1 -> 0), it never touches pinned_link, leaving the bo linked on xe->pinned.late.external indefinitely. Once the bo is subsequently freed, this stale list entry points into freed memory, corrupting the list and risking a use-after-free the next time the list is walked or spliced. The backup object pin/unpin sites in xe_bo_notifier_prepare_pinned()/ xe_bo_notifier_unprepare_pinned() have the same bypass characteristic, though they never add their bo to a pinned list, so are not affected by this particular list-corruption issue. Move the pinned_link removal into xe_bo_account_unpin(), which already runs on every unpin path (kernel, external, framebuffer, backup object) right before the true 1 -> 0 pin_count transition. Since list_del_init() only operates on the node itself, this removal is list-agnostic and safe to perform regardless of which list (external or kernel_bo_present) the bo happens to be linked on, or which code path is performing the final unpin. Drop the now-redundant explicit list_del_init() calls in xe_bo_unpin_external() and xe_bo_unpin(). v2: - New patch v3: - Rebased on changes to previous patch. (cherry picked from commit ca58d36a1f93af586ee93b340c9f9fd81312cc01)
Attack Chain
Attacker scans for vulnerable versions using version banners or PoC scanners
Attacker triggers CVE-2026-98999 vulnerability with a crafted request or payload
Vulnerability exploited to perform unauthorized actions on the target system
Depending on vulnerability type, attacker achieves data access, service disruption, or code execution
MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
Indicators of Compromise
| Type | Value | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| user_agent | Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; exploit/1.0) |
Generic exploit scanner user agent pattern | |
| url | /api/vuln-endpoint?payload=<malicious> |
Exploit attempt against application endpoint — monitor access logs for anomalous params |
Remediation
Quick Facts
| CVE ID | CVE-2026-98999 |
| CVSS Score | 7.8 |
| Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| Published | 2026-10-23 |
| Exploited | No |
| CISA KEV | No |
| PoC | Available |