---
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'
---

## Overview

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 fails to release previously acquired fragment references during error cleanup. By repeatedly triggering this initialization failure, an attacker can leak kernel memory over time.

## Vendor advisories

- **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)

**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.

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

Not affected:

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

## Remediation

Fix deferred