Evidence-led vulnerability intelligence · 2026-11-03 17:47 IST

CVE-2026-99255

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring/io-wq: don't hide a link from cancellations A task that exits cancels its tracked requests and waits until they are gone. io_uring_cancel_generic() looks everywhere a request can be, and goes to sleep if it found nothing to cancel. It is woken up each time one of the requests of the task is completed by task work or freed. When io-wq is done with a request that has a link, there is a time in which the next request of the link can't be found: io_worker_handle_work() io_assign_current_work(worker, NULL) io_wq_free_work(work) io_req_find_next() // takes the link off the request io_free_req() // task work for the task io_assign_current_work(worker, linked) io_run_task_work() cond_resched() worker->cur_work = linked It is not pending, it is not the current work of a worker, and it is not yet on the list that it is about to be parked on. If the pass that the exiting task makes because of io_free_req() falls into that time, it finds nothing and the task goes to sleep. The worker then runs the link, which IO_WQ_BIT_EXIT doesn't prevent for bounded work. If that parks the request nothing is completed or freed, and nobody wakes up the task. If it is the process that exits it can't be killed any more either. NOP, IOSQE_ASYNC | IOSQE_IO_LINK FUTEX_WAIT, FUTEX2_PRIVATE exit of the thread, or of the process, up to 63us later With four of these per round 5 to 8 of 10,000 rounds hang (4 CPUs, KVM): io_uring_cancel_generic do_exit Commit f8b632e89a10 ("io_uring: tighten task exit cancellations") is about the same gap, and makes the task look again for whatever happens before io_free_req(). Free the request once the link is the current work of the worker, or pending. Whoever is woken up by that can find the link, until it is parked where cancellations look as well. To do so split io_wq_free_work() in two.

UNRATED · N/ALinuxmacOS / Apple

Executive briefing

The source record describes: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring/io-wq: don't hide a link from cancellations A task that exits cancels its tracked requests and waits until they are gone. io_uring_cancel_generic() looks everywhere a request can be, and goes to sleep if it found nothing to cancel. It is woken up each time one of the requests of the task is completed by task work or freed. When io-wq is done with a request that has a link, there is a time in which the next request of the link can't be found: io_worker_handle_work() io_assign_current_work(worker, NULL) io_wq_free_work(work) io_req_find_next() // takes the link off the request io_free_req() // task work for the task io_assign_current_work(worker, linked) io_run_task_work() cond_resched() worker->cur_work = linked It is not pending, it is not the current work of a worker, and it is not yet on the list that it is about to be parked on. If the pass that the exiting task makes because of io_free_req() falls into that time, it finds nothing and the task goes to sleep. The worker then runs the link, which IO_WQ_BIT_EXIT doesn't prevent for bounded work. If that parks the request nothing is completed or freed, and nobody wakes up the task. If it is the process that exits it can't be killed any more either. NOP, IOSQE_ASYNC | IOSQE_IO_LINK FUTEX_WAIT, FUTEX2_PRIVATE exit of the thread, or of the process, up to 63us later With four of these per round 5 to 8 of 10,000 rounds hang (4 CPUs, KVM): io_uring_cancel_generic do_exit Commit f8b632e89a10 ("io_uring: tighten task exit cancellations") is about the same gap, and makes the task look again for whatever happens before io_free_req(). Free the request once the link is the current work of the worker, or pending. Whoever is woken up by that can find the link, until it is parked where cancellations look as well. To do so split io_wq_free_work() in two. The practical risk depends on whether an affected product/version is present, reachable and configured in an exploitable way. Review the affected-product evidence and linked vendor advisories before assigning exposure status.

Assessment: Potential exposure only — validate the installed product, exact version, configuration and vendor applicability before treating an asset as confirmed vulnerable.

Evidence confidence: Low Evidence-derived, not an exploitability verdict

Severity & attack characteristics

N/A / 10 ·

CVSS vector:

No CVSS vector is currently available in the source record.

Technical explanation & impact

The technical mechanism is not expanded beyond the source description unless a referenced advisory supplies additional evidence. Read the linked vendor/CERT advisories for root-cause detail.

Potential impact must be interpreted from the published CVSS impact metrics and the affected component. A CVSS impact score is not proof that a particular asset is exploitable.

Affected products and versions

NVD has not supplied machine-readable vulnerable CPE product/version entries for this CVE. This is an information gap, not proof that no products are affected. Check the vendor advisory references below.

Remediation & validation

  1. Identify exposure by comparing the affected product and version ranges with your asset inventory, SBOM and externally exposed services.
  2. Review the linked vendor security advisory or patch notes. Upgrade to a vendor-confirmed fixed release; do not infer a fixed version from the CVE description.
  3. Until patched, consider restricting network access or disabling the affected feature where operationally safe. These are temporary controls, not a substitute for a vendor fix.
  4. Validate the remediation with a version check and vulnerability rescan, then retain change evidence.

No fixed version is displayed unless it is explicitly established by a vendor advisory. Follow the vendor's release notes for exact product and branch applicability.

Vendor advisories, patches & exploit references

Information gaps & confidence notes

These gaps indicate missing source data. CVE Watch does not fill them with guessed product, exploit or patch details.

Last enrichment: 2026-11-04T12:22:00+00:00 · Source last modified: 2026-11-03T20:18:31.520

Open NVD record ← Back to CVE Watch

Threat intelligence, made actionable · CVE data sourced from the NVD