{"id":"CVE-2026-98551","title":"kernel: perf/core: Fill branch entries with a single assignment (CVE-2026-98551)","summary":"A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Performance Events (perf) subsystem on ARM64 architectures. This flaw allows a local user to cause an information disclosure of sensitive kernel memory. The issue occurs because certain branch trackin…","severity":"low","cvss":3.3,"cvssVector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N","cvssSource":"vendor","cwe":"CWE-908","vendor":"Red Hat","product":"Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9","affected":["enterprise_linux 10","enterprise_linux 9","openshift_container_platform 4"],"published":"2026-10-18","updated":"2026-10-20","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-20T00:36:12+00:00","source":"CSAF","sourceUrl":"https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98551.json","references":[{"url":"https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98551.json"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98551"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2554978"},{"url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98551"},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98551"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98551.mbox"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c7de8521947a521b766979ff5c09f66fe905a5bd"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/24b620729e53d978b3e425f55bc66efd3bab1f59"}],"tags":["csaf","vex","red-hat","cve.org"],"epss":0.00189,"epssPercentile":0.08471,"ingestedAt":"2026-10-18T15:45:12.265Z","slug":"CVE-2026-98551","body":"## Overview\n\nA flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Performance Events (perf) subsystem on ARM64 architectures. This flaw allows a local user to cause an information disclosure of sensitive kernel memory. The issue occurs because certain branch tracking data structures are not properly cleared, allowing an attacker reading branch records to access uninitialized kernel memory.\n\n## Vendor advisories\n\n- **Red Hat VEX** · Low · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · updated 2026-10-20 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98551.json)\n\n**kernel: perf/core: Fill branch entries with a single assignment** — rated Low by Red Hat. Released 2026-10-18, updated 2026-10-20.\n\nAffected:\n\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9\n- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4\n\nNo fix planned:\n\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9\n- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4\n\nNot affected:\n\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9\n- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4\n\n## Remediation\n\nFix deferred","depth":"sunlit","depthScore":18,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":18.2,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[{"seq":225824,"id":"CVE-2026-98551","ts":1792498465352,"field":"cvss","old":null,"new":"3.3"},{"seq":225823,"id":"CVE-2026-98551","ts":1792498465352,"field":"severity","old":"none","new":"low"}]}