CVE-2026-99016
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AI Threat Summary
CVE-2026-99016 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: riscv: futex: untag the user pointer before the atomic access access_ok() checks untagged_addr(uaddr), but arch_futex_atomic_op_inuser() and futex_atomic_cmpxchg_inatomic() hand the raw uaddr to the inline asm amoswap/amoadd/.../lr.w+sc.w through the "+m" (*uaddr) operand. When the tagged address ABI is enabled (CONFIG_RISCV_ISA_SUPM, prctl PR_SET_TAGGED_ADDR_CTRL with PMLEN != 0), those two addresses differ: a user pointer whose top PMLEN bits hold a tag passes access_ok() after untagging, but the atomic is then performed on the still-tagged raw address. Supervisor-mode data accesses are not subject to the U-mode pointer masking (that is governed by menvcfg.PMM, which the kernel does not set), so hardware does not strip the tag for the kernel's own access. With Sv57 and PMLEN=16 the tag bits overlap the canonical-address bits, so a tagged pointer can name a canonical kernel virtual address (e.g. in the linear map) whose untagged form is a valid user address. An unprivileged process can thus make FUTEX_WAKE_OP perform an atomic read-modify-write on an arbitrary kernel address, with the matching FUTEX_OP_CMP_* result serving as a read oracle. get_user()/put_user()/raw_copy_{to,from}_user() already untag the pointer after the access_ok() check; do the same in the futex helpers so the atomic operates on the address that was actually validated.
Attack Chain
Attacker scans for vulnerable versions using version banners or PoC scanners
Attacker triggers CVE-2026-99016 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-2026-99016 |
| 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 |