* [CVE-2026-89852][MODERATE REGULAR] scsi: qla2xxx: Zero mailbox struct in qla2x00_get_firmware_state()
@ 2026-09-16 12:29 21% AL-KERNEL
0 siblings, 0 replies; 1+ results
From: AL-KERNEL @ 2026-09-16 12:29 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: kernel-cve
CVE: CVE-2026-89852
Priority: MODERATE REGULAR
AL-KERNEL base severity: MODERATE
KPANIC flag: NO
Patch: scsi: qla2xxx: Zero mailbox struct in qla2x00_get_firmware_state()
Commit: f8fc5cc6b3284506c6ab83c822c48133377668bb
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=f8fc5cc6b3284506c6ab83c822c48133377668bb
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-89852
Analysis date: Wed, 16 Sep 2026 08:29:51 -0400
ActionableScore: 4
ActionableScore lower bound: 3
Actionable bucket: Borderline / manual review recommended
Manual review required: YES
Summary:
No one-sentence report phrase was found.
======================================================================
ABOUT THIS REPORT
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-89852 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-89852
The original announcement does not normally provide a security severity
estimate, CVSS assessment, or enough information to determine whether the
reported kernel bug represents a practically relevant security issue.
This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin. It combines
an autonomous classifier with LLM-assisted technical analysis and a
separate ActionableScore mechanism.
The purpose of this report is to prioritize Linux kernel CVEs before
manual review, identify cases that require prompt investigation, and
support automatic closure of issues that are unlikely to have meaningful
security impact.
Published priority for this report: MODERATE REGULAR
Manual review required: YES
A detailed explanation of the methodology and priority rules is included
at the end of this message.
======================================================================
AL-KERNEL CLASSIFICATION RESULT
======================================================================
CVE-2026-89852 MODERATE https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-89852 CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN LOW Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N';*CWE-457;CWE-908;*CWE-200;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N';BEST CVSS score: '4.7';DESCR 'qla2xxx firmware state sysfs reads may expose uninitialized kernel stack data because qla2x00_get_firmware_state() copies mailbox fields after qla2x00_mailbox_command() failure paths where mcp mb values may not have been written. A local process can read the fw_state or mpi_fw_state sysfs attributes and receive stale stack contents instead of deterministic firmware state values when the adapter is in an error or busy state. For the CVSS the PR:L is used because a local process must access sysfs on the victim system. The issue is not network reachable and requires a system with the qla2xxx driver and affected Fibre Channel hardware or an equivalent exposed device state. Impact is information disclosure only. The paranoid score uses C:H because kernel stack disclosure can be security relevant for bypassing mitigations or assisting later attacks, but no direct integrity impact, availability impact, or standalone privilege escalation primitive is shown.';YES REQUIRES MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Borderline / manual review recommended (with actual score 4) YES SIMPLEFIX LEAK HARDWARE LINUS INCREASED_FROM_LOW_BASED_ON_REQUIREMANUALCHECK DECREASED_TO_MODERATEREG_BASED_ON_FALSEPOSCHECKOFKP NO NO checked
======================================================================
ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
======================================================================
ActionableScore=4
ActionableScoreLower=3
PrimitiveClass=NONE
RealUAF=NO
HostAdminRequired=NO
NamespaceScopedPrivilege=NO
ImportantCandidate=NO
ManualReview=RECOMMENDED
AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES
1. ActionableScore
* Raw conservative score: 3
* Conservative score: 3. No floor or cap applied.
* Raw paranoid score: 4
* Paranoid score: 4. No floor or cap applied.
* Final recommended bucket: **Borderline / manual review recommended**::
2. Signal breakdown
Conservative positive signals:
* +1 Local below-host-admin trigger. The supplied context says the leaked values are exposed to userspace via the fw_state and mpi_fw_state sysfs handlers.
* +1 Confidentiality plausible. Uninitialized kernel stack memory is copied into states[] and returned to userspace.
* +1 Practical disclosure chain established. The chain is failure path in qla2x00_mailbox_command() -> uninitialized mcp->mb[] -> unconditional copy by qla2x00_get_firmware_state() -> sysfs read disclosure.
Paranoid additional signal:
* +1 Kernel stack disclosure triage sensitivity. The disclosed data is small and not attacker-selected, but kernel stack disclosure can expose sensitive transient values or mitigation-relevant data, so a one-point paranoid increase is defensible.
Negative signals:
* No host-admin penalty applied. The evidence indicates userspace sysfs exposure and does not positively establish host-admin-only access.
* No hardware rarity penalty applied. The issue requires qla2xxx hardware or equivalent device state, but this only scopes affected systems and does not by itself prove a rare physical-only attacker prerequisite.
Important non-awarded signals:
* No RealUAF. There is no stale post-lifetime object use.
* No memory corruption. The primitive is an uninitialized stack read and disclosure, not a write or lifetime corruption.
* No integrity impact awarded. No unauthorized modification is shown.
* No availability impact awarded. No crash, panic, or resource exhaustion is shown.
* No remote reachability awarded. The trigger is local sysfs access, not network traffic.
* No authorization bypass awarded. No ALLOW-vs-DENY access-control decision change is established.
* No LPE or strong exploitation leverage awarded. The patch supports information disclosure only.
* No Class A substantial disclosure. The leak appears limited to selected mailbox words, not a broad or controlled kernel memory disclosure.
Repeated release/refcount checklist:
* First release can end lifetime: no evidence.
* Exact same reference survives: no evidence.
* Second lifetime/refcount mutation: no evidence.
* Concrete repeated release/refcount +1 awarded: no.
* Paranoid repeated-refcount leverage +1 awarded: no.
* FLOOR 5 applied: no.
3. Reachability analysis
The attacker is a local userspace process reading qla2xxx firmware state sysfs attributes. The complete trigger requires an affected system with the qla2xxx driver and a device state where qla2x00_mailbox_command() exits through an early failure path before writing mailbox output registers. The supplied evidence indicates userspace exposure through fw_state and mpi_fw_state, so HostAdminRequired is set to NO rather than UNKNOWN. No namespace-scoped privilege is involved. No network trigger is established. Prior device presence and driver operation are prerequisites, but there is no evidence that the attacker needs physical access or host-administrator control to read the exposed sysfs state. Race behavior is not required.
4. Primitive and severity interpretation
The exact primitive is a local kernel information disclosure caused by copying uninitialized stack fields from mbx_cmd_t into a userspace-visible sysfs result. This is neither active structured UAF nor fixed stale storage. It is an uninitialized stack disclosure path.
PrimitiveClass is NONE because the prompt classes mainly preserve corruption, lifetime, ownership, authorization, and substantial disclosure primitives. This patch establishes a limited information leak, not a corruption or Important-preserving primitive. The demonstrated consequence is confidentiality impact only. The speculative consequence is that leaked stack data might help bypass mitigations or assist another exploit, but no standalone privilege escalation, arbitrary read/write, or integrity primitive is shown.
ImportantCandidate is NO because the disclosure is limited and no stronger downstream exploit evidence is supplied. AutoDowngradeAllowed is YES because no Class A or strong Class B primitive remains unresolved, though manual review is still recommended due to kernel stack exposure.
Likely operational severity: low to moderate information disclosure, with manual triage recommended but not a strong Important candidate from the supplied evidence.
5. One-sentence report phrase
qla2xxx firmware state sysfs reads may expose uninitialized kernel stack data when mailbox command failure paths leave mcp mb fields unwritten and qla2x00_get_firmware_state() copies those fields to userspace.
6. Manual review recommendation
MANUAL CHECK RECOMMENDED
Reason: this is a concrete kernel stack information leak to userspace, but the leak is limited and no memory corruption, authorization bypass, availability impact, or standalone privilege escalation primitive is established.
7. Call-site confidence
Call-site confidence: high
======================================================================
UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================
Patch: scsi: qla2xxx: Zero mailbox struct in qla2x00_get_firmware_state()
Commit: f8fc5cc6b3284506c6ab83c822c48133377668bb
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=f8fc5cc6b3284506c6ab83c822c48133377668bb
Commit description:
The mbx_cmd_t is allocated on the stack but left uninitialized.
qla2x00_mailbox_command() has several early-return paths (PCI permanent
failure, device failed, EEH busy, ISP abort pending, mailbox access
timeout, purge mbox) that return without writing the input mailbox
registers back into mcp->mb[]. qla2x00_get_firmware_state() then
unconditionally copies mcp->mb[1..6] (and mb[12]) into the caller's
states[] array regardless of the return value.
On such a failure the copied values are uninitialized kernel stack
memory, which is then exposed to userspace via the fw_state and
mpi_fw_state sysfs handlers. Zero the mailbox struct so a failed query
yields deterministic zeroed state instead of leaking stack contents.
Fixes: 4d4df19 ("[SCSI] qla2xxx: Add ISP84XX support.")
Cc: [email protected]
Reported-by: Sashiko <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Nilesh Javali <[email protected]>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/[email protected]
Signed-off-by: Martin K. Petersen (Oracle) <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <[email protected]>
Changed files:
drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_mbx.c
Diff excerpt:
Not included in this email. See the upstream URL for the full patch.
Full patch:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=f8fc5cc6b3284506c6ab83c822c48133377668bb
======================================================================
DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-89852 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-89852
The original CVE announcement normally does not include a security-level
estimate. In particular, it may not contain a CVSS assessment, an impact
level, or enough information to determine whether the reported bug is a
practically relevant security issue. One purpose of this parallel CVE list
is to provide that missing technical and prioritization information.
The original goal of the AL-KERNEL project was to prioritize Linux kernel
CVE analysis automatically before manual review. The system can also help
identify non-security issues that may be suitable for automatic closure.
This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin.
The first analysis stage combines an autonomous classifier with additional
LLM-based analysis. The autonomous classifier runs locally on a CPU and is
based on a backpropagation neural network. Together, these mechanisms
produce a technical vulnerability description, identify likely weakness
types, estimate CVSS severity, and provide input for ActionableScore.
Two CVSS estimates are retained because incomplete kernel vulnerability
information often permits more than one defensible interpretation:
Conservative CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 4.7
The conservative vector represents a lower-impact interpretation.
The Best/paranoid vector intentionally represents a plausible upper-bound
interpretation and should not automatically be treated as demonstrated
real-world impact.
CVSS may also need to be adjusted for a particular Linux deployment,
because actual reachability, privileges, enabled kernel configuration,
hardware, namespaces, exposed device nodes, and other environmental
conditions can differ significantly between systems.
A separate ActionableScore mechanism evaluates practical remediation
urgency. Its analysis may include reachability, attack prerequisites,
subsystem exposure, memory-corruption characteristics, denial-of-service
reliability, and possible confidentiality, integrity, or
privilege-escalation impact.
Conservative ActionableScore: 3
Paranoid ActionableScore: 4
The final base severity is taken directly from the second tab-separated
field of the AL-KERNEL classification result. ActionableScore does not
replace or independently override that final AL-KERNEL decision, and
if ActionableScore adjusted impact level of ALKERNEL, then you would see
self-readable flags above like INCREASED_TO_HIGH_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCOREHIGHEREQTHAN7.
For an AL-KERNEL result of MODERATE, this report uses the following
additional presentation split:
ActionableScore below 5 -> MODERATE REGULAR
ActionableScore 5 or more -> MODERATE 7.0
The distinction between MODERATE REGULAR and MODERATE 7.0 makes it
possible to identify Moderate issues that should receive manual analysis
and fixes before lower-priority MODERATE REGULAR issues. In many cases,
MODERATE REGULAR fixes may wait for a later rebase or routine update.
There is one override in which MODERATE REGULAR becomes MODERATE 7.0
even when the ActionableScore is below 5. When the AL-KERNEL result
contains the KPANIC flag, a MODERATE result is always presented as
MODERATE 7.0. The KPANIC flag selected with few regexps without
usage of AI at all, so it helps to detect cases when Kernel Crash happens
and similar (to filter False-Negative results from the LLM usage).
KPANIC indicates that a reliable kernel crash, kernel panic, or similarly
serious kernel availability impact was identified by the classification
workflow.
AL-KERNEL base severity for this report: MODERATE
KPANIC detected for this report: NO
Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): MODERATE REGULAR
These results are intended to support engineering triage. They are
machine-generated estimates, and cases marked for manual review should
be validated by a human security engineer before final disposition.
For more info read docs linked from here: https://kernelcve.org/
(and you can submit you own patch there to generate such a report
for non-existant CVE-id yet).
Note that in many cases this AI tool selects higher severity, than
real is (means you can expect Importants instead of Moderate 7.0 or
Moderates 7.0 instead of regular Moderates). If you see such cases,
please use reply email interface to add additional manual analyses
info to this particular CVE.
And please, please, let me know when you see Lows instead of Importants
or Important instead of Low (because particular for such cases I
need to tune this AI tool to make it better for this one and next similar).
My contact email for such notifications is [email protected] (and both
send reply to CVE record itself too and see "reply" button below for howto reply).
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