{"id":"CVE-2026-98841","title":"kernel: virt: vmgenid: set driver_data before registering notification handlers (CVE-2026-98841)","summary":"A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Virtual Machine Generation ID (vmgenid) driver. The driver registers interrupt and notification handlers before fully initializing driver data during startup. If an interrupt or notification is receiv…","severity":"medium","cvss":4.1,"cvssVector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","cvssSource":"vendor","cwe":"CWE-476","vendor":"Red Hat","product":"Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10","affected":["enterprise_linux 10"],"published":"2026-10-18","updated":"2026-10-23","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-23T21:55:28+00:00","source":"CSAF","sourceUrl":"https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98841.json","references":[{"url":"https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98841.json"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98841"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2555257"},{"url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98841"},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98841"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98841.mbox"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/538fe5efaa9704ad820ba34b4f9df135ca873d79"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a1e8daeaa466c6aaffa223e1afe9cfeece0dd47"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8f42954ad8bf9bdbf574f2c437ad30cb2601f401"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9f8139c6145cf17d690d6c414d43b4c0bef632fb"}],"tags":["csaf","vex","red-hat","cve.org"],"epss":0.00168,"epssPercentile":0.06028,"ingestedAt":"2026-10-18T16:47:32.466Z","slug":"CVE-2026-98841","body":"## Overview\n\nA flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Virtual Machine Generation ID (vmgenid) driver. The driver registers interrupt and notification handlers before fully initializing driver data during startup. If an interrupt or notification is received immediately—such as when restoring a virtual machine from a snapshot—the handler dereferences an uninitialized pointer. This condition triggers a kernel crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) of the virtual guest system.\n\n## Vendor advisories\n\n- **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · updated 2026-10-23 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98841.json)\n\n**kernel: virt: vmgenid: set driver_data before registering notification handlers** — rated Moderate by Red Hat. Released 2026-10-18, updated 2026-10-23.\n\nAffected:\n\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10\n\nNo fix planned:\n\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10\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":23,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":22.5,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[{"seq":228612,"id":"CVE-2026-98841","ts":1792844813583,"field":"cvss","old":null,"new":"4.1"},{"seq":228611,"id":"CVE-2026-98841","ts":1792844813583,"field":"severity","old":"none","new":"medium"}]}