Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-45957

critical Nessus Plugin ID 317257

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- rcu: Fix rcu_read_unlock() deadloop due to softirq Commit 5f5fa7ea89dc (rcu: Don't use negative nesting depth in __rcu_read_unlock()) removes the recursion-protection code from __rcu_read_unlock(). Therefore, we could invoke the deadloop in raise_softirq_irqoff() with ftrace enabled as follows: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 0 at kernel/trace/trace.c:3021 __ftrace_trace_stack.constprop.0+0x172/0x180 Modules linked in:
my_irq_work(O) CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Tainted: G O 6.18.0-rc7-dirty #23 PREEMPT(full) Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:__ftrace_trace_stack.constprop.0+0x172/0x180 RSP: 0018:ffffc900000034a8 EFLAGS: 00010002 RAX:
0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000004 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000003 RSI: ffffffff826d7b87 RDI: ffffffff826e9329 RBP: 0000000000090009 R08: 0000000000000005 R09: ffffffff82afbc4c R10:
0000000000000008 R11: 0000000000011d7a R12: 0000000000000000 R13: ffff888003874100 R14: 0000000000000003 R15: ffff8880038c1054 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880fa8ea000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 000055b31fa7f540 CR3: 00000000078f4005 CR4: 0000000000770ef0 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <IRQ> trace_buffer_unlock_commit_regs+0x6d/0x220 trace_event_buffer_commit+0x5c/0x260 trace_event_raw_event_softirq+0x47/0x80 raise_softirq_irqoff+0x6e/0xa0 rcu_read_unlock_special+0xb1/0x160 unwind_next_frame+0x203/0x9b0
__unwind_start+0x15d/0x1c0 arch_stack_walk+0x62/0xf0 stack_trace_save+0x48/0x70
__ftrace_trace_stack.constprop.0+0x144/0x180 trace_buffer_unlock_commit_regs+0x6d/0x220 trace_event_buffer_commit+0x5c/0x260 trace_event_raw_event_softirq+0x47/0x80 raise_softirq_irqoff+0x6e/0xa0 rcu_read_unlock_special+0xb1/0x160 unwind_next_frame+0x203/0x9b0
__unwind_start+0x15d/0x1c0 arch_stack_walk+0x62/0xf0 stack_trace_save+0x48/0x70
__ftrace_trace_stack.constprop.0+0x144/0x180 trace_buffer_unlock_commit_regs+0x6d/0x220 trace_event_buffer_commit+0x5c/0x260 trace_event_raw_event_softirq+0x47/0x80 raise_softirq_irqoff+0x6e/0xa0 rcu_read_unlock_special+0xb1/0x160 unwind_next_frame+0x203/0x9b0
__unwind_start+0x15d/0x1c0 arch_stack_walk+0x62/0xf0 stack_trace_save+0x48/0x70
__ftrace_trace_stack.constprop.0+0x144/0x180 trace_buffer_unlock_commit_regs+0x6d/0x220 trace_event_buffer_commit+0x5c/0x260 trace_event_raw_event_softirq+0x47/0x80 raise_softirq_irqoff+0x6e/0xa0 rcu_read_unlock_special+0xb1/0x160 __is_insn_slot_addr+0x54/0x70 kernel_text_address+0x48/0xc0 __kernel_text_address+0xd/0x40 unwind_get_return_address+0x1e/0x40 arch_stack_walk+0x9c/0xf0 stack_trace_save+0x48/0x70 __ftrace_trace_stack.constprop.0+0x144/0x180 trace_buffer_unlock_commit_regs+0x6d/0x220 trace_event_buffer_commit+0x5c/0x260 trace_event_raw_event_softirq+0x47/0x80 __raise_softirq_irqoff+0x61/0x80
__flush_smp_call_function_queue+0x115/0x420 __sysvec_call_function_single+0x17/0xb0 sysvec_call_function_single+0x8c/0xc0 </IRQ> Commit b41642c87716 (rcu: Fix rcu_read_unlock() deadloop due to IRQ work) fixed the infinite loop in rcu_read_unlock_special() for IRQ work by setting a flag before calling irq_work_queue_on(). We fix this issue by setting the same flag before calling raise_softirq_irqoff() and rename the flag to defer_qs_pending for more common. (CVE-2026-45957)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-45957

Plugin Details

Severity: Critical

ID: 317257

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_45957.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 5/27/2026

Updated: 5/27/2026

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 6.4

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-45957

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Critical

Base Score: 9.8

Temporal Score: 9

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:U/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:linux, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/cpu, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 5/27/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-45957