* [CVE-2026-99229][MODERATE REGULAR] io_uring/wait: don't spin on a stuck overflow list
@ 2026-11-03 2:40 21% AL-KERNEL
0 siblings, 0 replies; 1+ results
From: AL-KERNEL @ 2026-11-03 2:40 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: kernel-cve
CVE: CVE-2026-99229
Priority: MODERATE REGULAR
AL-KERNEL base severity: MODERATE
KPANIC flag: NO
Patch: io_uring/wait: don't spin on a stuck overflow list
Commit: bf1d2ed84b3162e3b0e0bb7018ac59147da6e975
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=bf1d2ed84b3162e3b0e0bb7018ac59147da6e975
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-99229
Analysis date: Mon, 02 Nov 2026 22:40:07 -0400
ActionableScore: 3
ActionableScore lower bound: unknown
Actionable bucket: Borderline / manual review recommended
Manual review required: YES
Summary:
A local io_uring user can deterministically trap one of its tasks in an unkillable kernel spin by leaving an unflushable CQ overflow pending.
======================================================================
ABOUT THIS REPORT
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-99229 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-99229
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-2026-99229 MODERATE https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-99229 CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN LOW | AEGIS IMPACT LOW AEGIS_AS=2 LEGACY=MODERATE RESULT=DIFF (final Legacy and Aegis differ; FINAL: MODERATE, Aegis: LOW) Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H';*CWE-835;**CWE-400;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L';BEST CVSS score: '5.5';DESCR 'io_uring can trap a task in an infinite kernel spin when IO_CHECK_CQ_OVERFLOW_BIT remains set and the overflow list cannot be flushed into the completion ring. A deterministic trigger exists with IORING_SETUP_CQE_MIXED when a 32 byte CQE needs two contiguous entries but only one entry is free. Another local thread can also manipulate the application controlled CQ head so that the ring appears full and an overflow CQE remains pending. The trapped task does not reach signal handling or timeout setup and cannot be terminated even with SIGKILL. For the CVSS the PR:L value is selected because a local process must create and operate an io_uring instance. The demonstrated primitive is an infinite loop and persistent CPU consumption with no evidence of UAF, OOB access, information disclosure, or an arbitrary write. Automated impact decision path. The original SimpleNet classifier selected LOW. The primary LLM estimated paranoid CVSS 5.5 and the production ActionableScore returned 3 with recommendation Borderline / manual review recommended. The production rules then evaluated CVSS thresholds and ActionableScore thresholds. Recorded rule transitions were CVSS and initial triage stage LOW to MODERATE_KPANIC because the CVSS score, vector or bug class threshold rule was applied. ActionableScore thresholds stage MODERATE_KPANIC to MODERATE because the ActionableScore threshold rule was applied. The legacy KP specialist has no review artifact for this run. The legacy FD or DH downgrade specialist has no review artifact for this run. Exact triggered rule markers were INCREASED_FROM_LOW_BASED_ON_HIGHCVSSSCORE and DECREASED_TO_MODERATEREG_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN4. The independent weaker Aegis shadow evaluated CVSS 3.3 and ActionableScore 2 with primitive class CLASS_C and manual review REQUIRED. Its independently reconciled impact was LOW. The models disagreed but the aggregation rules retained the production result. The final reported impact is MODERATE.';NO MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Borderline / manual review recommended (with actual score 3) MAYBE INIT LEAK IO_URING INCREASED_FROM_LOW_BASED_ON_HIGHCVSSSCORE DECREASED_TO_MODERATEREG_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN4 - - checked
======================================================================
ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
======================================================================
ActionableScore=3
PrimitiveClass=CLASS_C
RealUAF=NO
HostAdminRequired=NO
NamespaceScopedPrivilege=NO
ImportantCandidate=NO
ManualReview=RECOMMENDED
AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES
RequiresHostUID0=NO
AuthorizationDecisionBypass=NO
ProtectedResourceImpact=NONE
B4PendingReview=NO
B4PendingConfirmed=NO
1. ActionableScore
* Raw base score: 3.
* Conservative score: 3; no floor or cap applied.
* Raw paranoid score: 3.
* Paranoid score: 3; no additional technically supported effect.
* Final recommended bucket: **Borderline / manual review recommended**::
2. Signal breakdown
* +1 Local unprivileged trigger: an ordinary process can create and operate its own io_uring and control its CQ head; no capability requirement is shown.
* +1 Reliable strong DoS: the demonstrated wait loop spins indefinitely in kernel context and does not process signals or arm its timeout, making the affected task unkillable even with SIGKILL.
* +1 Broad, plausibly exercised subsystem: io_uring is broadly deployed, and both mixed-size CQEs and application-managed CQ state provide concrete trigger paths.
* No additional availability point: persistent spinning and the unkillable task are the same DoS effect.
* No OOB write, UAF, memory corruption, disclosure, authorization bypass, protected-state modification, or cross-boundary effect is shown.
* NEW52/B5-R does not apply: there is no retry-accumulated heap write or later consumption of corrupted structured state.
* No race penalty: the mixed-CQE trigger is deterministic, while the second trigger permits attacker-controlled coordination.
3. Reachability analysis
A normal local process can instantiate and operate the affected io_uring without host UID 0 or host-administrator capabilities. It controls the completion-ring head and can request the relevant event count. No namespace capability, prior privileged setup, unusual hardware, or boot-time prerequisite is evidenced. The impact is confined by the supplied proof to a task spinning in kernel context; scalable host-wide exhaustion is plausible but not demonstrated and is not separately scored.
4. Primitive and severity reading
The primitive is a CWE-835-style infinite kernel loop caused by repeatedly retrying an overflow flush that cannot make progress. This is CLASS_C availability behavior, not stale storage or active-state corruption. The patch breaks out when the overflow bit remains set so userspace can make room. ImportantCandidate is NO because no non-crash corruption, lifetime, authorization, ownership, or trust-boundary primitive remains unknown. Auto-downgrade is allowed because the supported effect is constrained local DoS.
5. One-sentence report phrase
A local io_uring user can deterministically trap one of its tasks in an unkillable kernel spin by leaving an unflushable CQ overflow pending.
6. Manual review advice
MANUAL CHECK RECOMMENDED
Confirm product-level io_uring exposure and whether mass triggering can produce materially broader host resource exhaustion.
7. Call-site confidence
Call-site confidence: high
======================================================================
UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================
Patch: io_uring/wait: don't spin on a stuck overflow list
Commit: bf1d2ed84b3162e3b0e0bb7018ac59147da6e975
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=bf1d2ed84b3162e3b0e0bb7018ac59147da6e975
Commit description:
As long as IO_CHECK_CQ_OVERFLOW_BIT is set, io_cqring_wait_schedule()
returns right away, before it gets to look at signals or arms the timeout,
for io_cqring_wait() to flush the overflow list. If that doesn't empty the
list, and the CQ ring doesn't hold the number of events the caller wants,
the loop starts over, with the same result. The task spins in the kernel,
and can't be killed.
The assumption is that this can't happen: if CQEs can't be flushed, the
ring is full, and min_events is capped to the size of the ring. But:
- With IORING_SETUP_CQE_MIXED a 32b CQE needs two contiguous entries. It
is stuck on the list if a single one is free, and then the ring holds
less than cq_entries events. A single threaded application that asks
for as many events as the ring has entries never gets out of
io_uring_enter().
- Whether the ring is full is up to the CQ head, which the application
can write to. While one thread waits for events on an empty ring,
another one can move the head back so that the ring looks full and
have a CQE overflow. The waiter can't be stopped any more, not even by
SIGKILL.
Only the application can make room in the CQ ring. Return to it if the
list could not be flushed.
[ 6.6: io_cqring_wait() lives in io_uring/io_uring.c ]
Fixes: 3fcf19d ("io_uring: parse check_cq out of wq waiting")
Assisted-by: LLM
Signed-off-by: Josef Bacik <[email protected]>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/[email protected]
Signed-off-by: Jens Axboe <[email protected]>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <[email protected]>
Changed files:
io_uring/io_uring.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=bf1d2ed84b3162e3b0e0bb7018ac59147da6e975
======================================================================
DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================
The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-99229 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-99229
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:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 5.5
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: unknown
Paranoid ActionableScore: 3
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).
^ permalink raw reply [relevance 21%]
Results 1-1 of 1 | reverse | sort options + mbox downloads above
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2026-11-03 2:40 21% [CVE-2026-99229][MODERATE REGULAR] io_uring/wait: don't spin on a stuck overflow list AL-KERNEL
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox