{"id":"CVE-2026-98552","title":"kernel: perf/core: Fix a refcount leak in attach_perf_ctx_data() (CVE-2026-98552)","summary":"A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Performance Counters for Linux (perf) subsystem. A race condition during the attachment of performance monitoring context data can cause the kernel to fail to update tracking flags, resulting in a ref…","severity":"low","cvss":2.5,"cvssVector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L","cvssSource":"vendor","cwe":"CWE-911","vendor":"Red Hat","product":"Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10","affected":["enterprise_linux 10","enterprise_linux 6"],"published":"2026-10-18","updated":"2026-10-20","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-20T01:30:09+00:00","source":"CSAF","sourceUrl":"https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98552.json","references":[{"url":"https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98552.json"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98552"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2555022"},{"url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98552"},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98552"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98552.mbox"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/23250517cd475367653f1e99396967f54c6f1b7c"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5286d4eb5cd7e10d7d93c3cc596e18bc8ad80f72"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cca4980630b3c7a85f53cb43c6018184ce5d4e37"}],"tags":["csaf","vex","red-hat","cve.org"],"epss":0.00198,"epssPercentile":0.09499,"ingestedAt":"2026-10-18T15:45:12.264Z","slug":"CVE-2026-98552","body":"## Overview\n\nA flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Performance Counters for Linux (perf) subsystem. A race condition during the attachment of performance monitoring context data can cause the kernel to fail to update tracking flags, resulting in a reference count leak. A local attacker could exploit this vulnerability to prevent allocated kernel memory from being released, potentially leading to memory exhaustion and a denial of service (DoS).\n\n## Vendor advisories\n\n- **Red Hat VEX** · Low · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · updated 2026-10-20 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98552.json)\n\n**kernel: perf/core: Fix a refcount leak in attach_perf_ctx_data()** — 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 6\n\nNo fix planned:\n\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10\n\nNot affected:\n\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\nOut of support scope","depth":"sunlit","depthScore":14,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":13.8,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[{"seq":225822,"id":"CVE-2026-98552","ts":1792498464813,"field":"cvss","old":null,"new":"2.5"},{"seq":225821,"id":"CVE-2026-98552","ts":1792498464813,"field":"severity","old":"none","new":"low"}]}