CVE-2026-90189 json
null_blk: register configfs subsystem after creating default devices
published 2026-09-17 52 d ago modified 2026-10-19 20 d ago also EUVD-2026-81782
- cvss
- —
- not scored
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.2%
- EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 6%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
null_blk: register configfs subsystem after creating default devices
In null_init(), configfs_register_subsystem() currently runs before register_blkdev(), so when null_blk is built as a module, a racing mkdir() + poweron from userspace can reach null_add_dev() while null_major is still 0. __add_disk() then hits WARN_ON(disk->minors) (major=0 with minors!=0) and fails:
[root@fedora ~]# [ 2366.521436] WARNING: block/genhd.c:476 at __add_disk+0x8a7/0xde0, [ 2366.523552] Modules linked in: null_blk(+) nft_fib_inet nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib_ipv6 nft_fib [ 2366.529081] CPU: 26 UID: 0 PID: 1600 Comm: sh Not tainted 7.2.0-rc1+ #66 PREEMPT(full) ...... [ 2366.547251] Call Trace: [ 2366.547575] <TASK> [ 2366.547831] ? _raw_spin_lock+0x84/0xe0 [ 2366.548260] add_disk_fwnode+0x114/0x560 [ 2366.548739] null_add_dev+0x102d/0x1b80 [null_blk] [ 2366.549310] ? __pfx_null_add_dev+0x10/0x10 [null_blk] [ 2366.549906] ? mutex_lock+0xde/0x1c0 [ 2366.550361] ? __pfx_mutex_lock+0x10/0x10 [ 2366.550827] nullb_device_power_store+0x1e7/0x280 [null_blk] [ 2366.551499] ? __pfx_nullb_device_power_store+0x10/0x10 [null_blk] [ 2366.552177] ? __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x1f5/0x470 [ 2366.552748] ? configfs_write_iter+0x35c/0x4e0 [ 2366.553242] configfs_write_iter+0x286/0x4e0 [ 2366.553787] vfs_write+0x52d/0xd00 [ 2366.554169] ? __pfx_vfs_write+0x10/0x10 [ 2366.554679] ? __pfx___css_rstat_updated+0x10/0x10 [ 2366.555196] ? fdget_pos+0x1cf/0x4c0 [ 2366.555649] ksys_write+0xfc/0x1d0 ......
Additionally, the err_dev path destroys all devices on nullb_list while configfs is still registered. If a racing mkdir() + poweron puts a user device on the list, null_destroy_dev()->null_free_dev() kfrees the user device's nullb_device but /sys/kernel/config/nullb/<name> is still reachable. Any userspace access to the item will trigger a UAF.
For simplicity, move configfs_register_subsystem() to the end to solve the problems above.
Patch / fix
- Linux Linux 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.110, 6.18.52, 7.2.6, 7.3
- linux Debian 12 6.1.190-1
- linux Debian 13 6.12.111-1
- linux Debian 14 7.2.6-1
- linux-6.12 Debian 12 6.12.111-1~deb12u1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90189
- linux Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-42.42
- linux-aws Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1016.17
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1016.18
- linux-ibm Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1017.17
- linux-riscv Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-42.42.1
- linux-oracle Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1015.16
- linux-hwe-7.0 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1
- linux-oem-7.0 Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1017.17
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90189
Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
- kernel-source openSUSE Tumbleweed 7.2.7-1.1
opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:11880-1
- kernel Azure Linux 3.0 6.6.157.1-1
azure linux advisories AZL-102141
Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/2679b11e9256bd70a5ef41783bab6ad6c34a3db1 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/dbcedbe4819ae21274ea77469e61e46a878b9943 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/57debc907aef66319d244009d3370dcd97388d37 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/d761be1b8f2bbabc41252deb79a426d3f0d4fa10 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/cab9bf5f68f76cd44e0ec92bd4a60c9b83656a36 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/c9d293d6bb0575fcb1f3408129453187e2a28a4e commit
Vendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2026-90189 updated cvss 4.7
kernel: null_blk: register configfs subsystem after creating default devices
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +83 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernel Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9 Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9affected: workaround, no fix available “Fix deferred”
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8not affected: vulnerable code not present
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
Exploit prediction
0.17% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 6% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
Affected products
- Linux Linux
Classification
- Technology feeds
References
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/2679b11e9256bd70a5ef41783bab6ad6c34a3db1
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/dbcedbe4819ae21274ea77469e61e46a878b9943
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/57debc907aef66319d244009d3370dcd97388d37
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/d761be1b8f2bbabc41252deb79a426d3f0d4fa10
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/cab9bf5f68f76cd44e0ec92bd4a60c9b83656a36
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/c9d293d6bb0575fcb1f3408129453187e2a28a4e
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-90189
- NVD CVE-2026-90189
Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.