[CVE-2026-97531][MODERATE 7.0] scsi: qla2xxx: Skip vport under deletion in report ID acquisition [ Upstream

[CVE-2026-97531][MODERATE 7.0] scsi: qla2xxx: Skip vport under deletion in report ID acquisition [ Upstream

[AL-KERNEL]

CVE: CVE-2026-97531
Priority: MODERATE 7.0
AL-KERNEL base severity: MODERATE
KPANIC flag: YES
Patch: scsi: qla2xxx: Skip vport under deletion in report ID acquisition [ Upstream
Commit: d61e8de98c5a52978fb1edd95fe4dde3131b280e
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=d61e8de98c5a52978fb1edd95fe4dde3131b280e
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-97531
Analysis date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 13:05:44 -0400
ActionableScore: 4
ActionableScore lower bound: unknown
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-2026-97531 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-97531

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 7.0
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-2026-97531	MODERATE	https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-97531 CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN MODERATE	Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H';*CWE-416;CWE-362;*CWE-664;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H';BEST CVSS score: '5.8';DESCR 'A race in the qla2xxx driver can reinsert a vport into host_map after the vport deletion path has removed it and cleared its port identifier. The vport can later be freed by scsi_host_put while the stale host_map entry remains reachable, so a later host_map lookup may dereference freed memory. For the CVSS the PR:L value in the paranoid score applies where a tenant, service account, or delegated container workload can control the lifecycle of an assigned FC NPIV virtual port. The base case uses PR:H because vport deletion and FC adapter management normally require administrative privileges. The race requires precise timing and is not directly reachable through ordinary IP packet traffic. Impact is at least local denial of service through a kernel crash and in the worst case may allow limited confidentiality or integrity impact due to the use after free condition. YES REQUIRES MANUAL CHECK';YES REQUIRES MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Borderline / manual review recommended (with actual score 4)	YES	UAF HARDWARE LINUS KPANIC 	NO	NO	checked

======================================================================
ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
======================================================================

ActionableScore=4
PrimitiveClass=CLASS_B
RealUAF=YES
HostAdminRequired=UNKNOWN
NamespaceScopedPrivilege=UNKNOWN
ImportantCandidate=NO
ManualReview=RECOMMENDED
AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES

1. ActionableScore

* Raw conservative score: 1
* Conservative score: 4
* Raw paranoid score: 1
* Paranoid score: 4
* Applied conservative floor: 1 -> 4. A concrete active-object UAF is directly established, host-admin-equivalent privilege is not positively established, and the stale use is not fixed stale storage.
* Applied paranoid floor: 1 -> 4.
* Final recommended bucket: **Borderline / manual review recommended**::

2. Signal breakdown

Positive signals:

* +2 Real UAF / active lifetime violation. The patch description establishes that a deleting vport can be reinserted into `host_map`, then its `vha` can be freed by `scsi_host_put()`, while the stale `host_map` entry remains reachable by later lookup.
* +1 Secondary index / lookup-tree staleness. `host_map` is a live btree-based lookup structure. The deletion path removes the entry, but the racing report-ID path can reinsert it after the vport has entered deletion, leaving a stale association that later kernel code can traverse.

Negative signals:

* -2 Rare hardware-dependent exposure. The vulnerable path requires a QLogic qla2xxx Fibre Channel adapter and a virtual-port configuration. This is a material hardware and deployment prerequisite, not merely a generic driver classification.

Not awarded:

* Controlled reclaim, attacker-controlled replacement contents, arbitrary write, callback control, and refcount takeover are not demonstrated.
* No concrete repeated release, `put`, `free`, or refcount mutation through the exact dangling reference is shown. The stale use is a later `host_map` lookup and dereference, not a second lifetime-mutating operation.
* Structured stale-object exploitation leverage is not awarded. `scsi_qla_host_t` is an active kernel object, but the supplied evidence does not show attacker influence over reclaimed object contents or meaningful fields consumed after reuse.
* Reliable kernel crash / strong DoS is not separately awarded. A kernel fault is plausible from the documented stale dereference, but the supplied evidence does not demonstrate a reliable observed panic or equivalent host-wide failure.
* Remote network reachability is not established. The relevant report-ID activity is associated with Fibre Channel adapter and firmware events, not ordinary IP traffic.
* Local unprivileged trigger is not established.
* No confidentiality or integrity bonus is awarded. A UAF alone does not establish disclosure or unauthorized modification.
* No race penalty is applied. The patch establishes a race window, but does not demonstrate that it is uniquely narrow, one-shot, or externally uncontrollable.

3. Reachability analysis

The complete trigger requires both a qla2xxx-managed virtual port entering deletion and a concurrent report-ID-acquisition path that finds the same vport before it is removed from `vp_list`. The report-ID path appears to be driven by adapter or Fibre Channel fabric event handling, while vport deletion is a local management lifecycle operation.

The supplied patch does not establish who can perform the complete sequence. It does not prove that an ordinary local user can create, delete, or control the relevant FC NPIV virtual port. It also does not prove that host-admin-equivalent privilege is necessarily required in every deployment. Therefore, `HostAdminRequired=UNKNOWN`.

No evidence establishes that all required operations are available through attacker-created user or network namespaces. In particular, qla2xxx adapter state and Fibre Channel virtual-port lifecycle management are tied to host hardware and driver state. Therefore, `NamespaceScopedPrivilege=UNKNOWN`.

The evaluated attacker model is unresolved and may be compound: a local actor or management service controls vport deletion, while a Fibre Channel fabric or device event drives report-ID acquisition. The patch does not establish that one below-host-admin attacker can reliably control both stages.

4. Primitive and severity interpretation

The exact primitive is a real stale-pointer use after free. A vport in deletion can be re-added to the live `host_map` btree after normal removal. The later `scsi_host_put()` may free the corresponding `vha`, but the stale btree entry remains available to future `host_map` lookups.

This is an active structured-object UAF, not fixed DMA or fixed stale-buffer storage. However, the demonstrated stale use is limited to lookup and dereference of the old driver object. There is no patch-supported evidence of controlled reuse, replacement-object shaping, stale callback dispatch, attacker-directed memory access, or a second refcount/lifetime mutation.

The issue is therefore `CLASS_B`, because a concrete kernel lifetime violation exists. It is not `CLASS_A`, because no strong exploitation primitive beyond the stale dereference is established. The demonstrated practical consequence is a plausible kernel fault or denial of service. Privilege escalation, confidentiality impact, and integrity impact remain speculative and are not used for scoring.

`ImportantCandidate=NO` is appropriate because the supplied evidence supports a constrained driver-lifetime UAF without demonstrated post-free leverage beyond crash potential. `AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES` is appropriate because no controlled reclamation, repeated release/refcount mutation, authorization bypass, boundary bypass, or other unresolved strong exploitation mechanism is established. Manual review remains recommended because the stale object is reachable from a persistent live lookup tree and the exact downstream lookup behavior is not visible.

Likely operational severity is ordinary-to-borderline Moderate for affected Fibre Channel deployments, with elevated relevance for environments that expose qla2xxx NPIV vport management to delegated services or tenants.

5. One-sentence report phrase

A race in the qla2xxx virtual-port teardown path can leave a freed `scsi_qla_host_t` reachable through the `host_map` btree, potentially causing a kernel use-after-free fault during a later lookup.

6. Manual review recommendation

MANUAL CHECK RECOMMENDED

The patch establishes a real UAF through a stale live lookup-tree entry, but attacker control over the complete vport-deletion and report-ID event sequence, as well as useful post-free reuse, is not established.

7. Call-site confidence

Call-site confidence: medium

======================================================================
UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================

Patch: scsi: qla2xxx: Skip vport under deletion in report ID acquisition [ Upstream
Commit: d61e8de98c5a52978fb1edd95fe4dde3131b280e
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=d61e8de98c5a52978fb1edd95fe4dde3131b280e

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=d61e8de98c5a52978fb1edd95fe4dde3131b280e

======================================================================
DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================

The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-97531 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-97531

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:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
  The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
  The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 5.8

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: 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: YES
Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): MODERATE 7.0

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 alexanjelausa@gmail.com (and both
send reply to CVE record itself too and see "reply" button below for howto reply).