---
id: CVE-2026-98543
title: >-
  kernel: bpf: fs/xattr: don't assume the inode is locked in
  path_unlink/path_rmdir (CVE-2026-98543)
summary: >-
  A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. A local privileged user could cause a
  Denial of Service (DoS) or file system corruption due to improper locking in
  the BPF (Berkeley Packet Filter) subsystem. When attaching sleepable BPF
  programs to c…
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-413
vendor: Red Hat
product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
affected:
  - enterprise_linux 10
published: '2026-10-18'
updated: '2026-10-24'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-24T14:23:40+00:00'
source: CSAF
sourceUrl: 'https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98543.json'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98543.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98543'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2554949'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98543'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98543'
  - url: >-
      https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98543.mbox
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7504b677c4370c9e4b153c553ff8831c093b1ff6'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/640d37fbd34d03af727dbc567f48c0203d1de6b4'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/35d442ed1f86465e49df3119fb898f985186db13'
tags:
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
  - cve.org
  - score-dispute
epss: 0.00154
epssPercentile: 0.04462
scores:
  vendor: 4.1
  cna: 7.3
ingestedAt: '2026-10-18T15:45:12.266Z'
---

## Overview

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. A local privileged user could cause a Denial of Service (DoS) or file system corruption due to improper locking in the BPF (Berkeley Packet Filter) subsystem. When attaching sleepable BPF programs to certain file removal hooks, the kernel verifier incorrectly assumes an inode lock is held, permitting extended attributes to be modified concurrently without synchronization.

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · updated 2026-10-24 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98543.json)

**kernel: bpf: fs/xattr: don't assume the inode is locked in path_unlink/path_rmdir** — rated Moderate by Red Hat. Released 2026-10-18, updated 2026-10-24.

Affected:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10

No fix planned:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10

Not affected:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

## Remediation

Fix deferred