Vulnerability in Linux

[ Description ]Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Reject non-scalar bpf_loop iteration counts bpf_loop() declares its nr_loops argument as ARG_ANYTHING. Privileged programs may pass pointer values to such arguments, so check_func_arg() lets a pointer-valued R1 reach the helper-specific checks. Since commit bb124da69c47 ("bpf: keep track of max number of bpf_loop callback iterations"), the verifier marks R1 precise and reads its upper bound to limit callback simulation. Precision backtracking only accepts scalar registers, so passing a pointer instead triggers the "backtracking misuse" verifier warning. Kernels with panic_on_warn enabled subsequently panic. Introduce ARG_SCALAR for helper arguments that only accept scalar values and use it for bpf_loop() nr_loops. Generic helper argument validation then rejects pointers before loop inlining and precision processing.

[ Fixes ]Fixes and patches

No fix or interim patch is linked from our sources yet. Check the vendor references below and limit exposure of affected systems until a fix is available.

[ Advisories ]Government CERT advisories

• CERT-FR9 Oct 2026CERTFR-2026-AVI-1289

  Multiple vulnerabilities in the Debian LTS Linux kernel Translated from French

  Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in the Debian LTS Linux kernel. Some of them allow an attacker to cause privilege escalation, a breach of data confidentiality and denial of service.

  CVE-2025-38237CVE-2025-39833CVE-2025-39925+1311 more CVEs
• CERT-FR2 Oct 2026CERTFR-2026-AVI-1253

  Multiple vulnerabilities in the Debian Linux kernel Translated from French

  Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in the Debian Linux kernel. Some of them allow an attacker to cause privilege escalation, a breach of data confidentiality and denial of service.

  CVE-2025-38237CVE-2025-39833CVE-2025-39925+1310 more CVEs
• BSI CERT-Bund24 Sep 2026WID-SEC-2026-3579

  Linux Kernel: Multiple vulnerabilities Translated from German

  CVE-2026-97615CVE-2026-97978CVE-2026-98127+590 more CVEs

[ References ]References

• git.kernel.org/stable/c/2ff38b3552af53238aee6c877ae64cc798d46fce
• git.kernel.org/stable/c/656d40d1ca228ee21a9b3280432479fc9eae75ab
• git.kernel.org/stable/c/c3fd8e5fd100f122bad503bdc0e9277219533253
• git.kernel.org/stable/c/e2e1161e03fecff6d2229a81b024337144bfcd97
• git.kernel.org/stable/c/f8ae8275c721334ee50fafdd986fb83294eb941a