{"id":"CVE-2026-98831","title":"kernel: of/overlay: don't leak fragment references when changeset init fails (CVE-2026-98831)","summary":"A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Device Tree overlay subsystem. This flaw allows a local user to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) through memory exhaustion. When an overlay changeset fails during target or symbol lookup, the kernel fa…","severity":"low","cvss":2.3,"cvssVector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L","cvssSource":"vendor","cwe":"CWE-772","vendor":"Red Hat","product":"Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10","affected":["enterprise_linux 10","enterprise_linux 8","openshift_container_platform 4"],"published":"2026-10-18","updated":"2026-10-23","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-23T21:29:17+00:00","source":"CSAF","sourceUrl":"https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98831.json","references":[{"url":"https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98831.json"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98831"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2555223"},{"url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98831"},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98831"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98831.mbox"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/702b5db6e7b3865be70675d57d6fd7dde80d02b6"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/894573e2fdaeb1b15030b7eebc22615edf28a6cd"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a46f1917b320cc8762183b802301da02a191b6a"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3a23fb158ba517b77a2e5258263bdfdaa480f758"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1d62f0f2bc7edb12ed09f71203df0e47fa4efca4"}],"tags":["csaf","vex","red-hat","cve.org"],"epss":0.00168,"epssPercentile":0.0598,"ingestedAt":"2026-10-18T16:47:32.471Z","slug":"CVE-2026-98831","body":"## Overview\n\nA flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Device Tree overlay subsystem. This flaw allows a local user to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) through memory exhaustion. When an overlay changeset fails during target or symbol lookup, the kernel fails to release previously acquired fragment references during error cleanup. By repeatedly triggering this initialization failure, an attacker can leak kernel memory over time.\n\n## Vendor advisories\n\n- **Red Hat VEX** · Low · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · updated 2026-10-23 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98831.json)\n\n**kernel: of/overlay: don't leak fragment references when changeset init fails** — rated Low by Red Hat. Released 2026-10-18, updated 2026-10-23.\n\nAffected:\n\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8\n- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4\n\nNo fix planned:\n\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8\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 9\n- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4\n\n## Remediation\n\nFix deferred","depth":"sunlit","depthScore":13,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":12.6,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[{"seq":228626,"id":"CVE-2026-98831","ts":1792844818269,"field":"cvss","old":null,"new":"2.3"},{"seq":228625,"id":"CVE-2026-98831","ts":1792844818269,"field":"severity","old":"none","new":"low"}]}