Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-98163

high Nessus Plugin ID 369312

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.

- cgroup: Avoid iteration of dying tasks with zero refcount The commit 260fbcb92bbea (cgroup: Move dying_tasks cleanup from cgroup_task_release() to cgroup_task_free()) extended the lifetime of tasks on the dying_tasks list. The iterators have provision to go through dying_tasks because of dying threadgroup leaders or explicit CSS_TASK_ITER_WITH_DEAD, however, it was expected that such tasks can obtain a new reference (that is possible before cgroup_task_release()/put_task_struct_rcu_user()). The tasks after cgroup_task_release() and before cgroup_task_free() are subject to race when they may or may not have
->usage count > 0. The race window is between css_task_iter_next() invocations when css_set_lock is released and we may arrive at a new ->task_pos. The iterator should not attempt to resurrect tasks whose
->usage count dropped to zero. (When that happens, __put_task_struct_rcu_cb() is already imminent and the returned task_struct would could be used after free.) As for the fix, we cannot simply check the signal->live count of a task on the dying list because that won't distinguish regular zombies waiting to be reaped from RCU remnant tasks that are going to be free'd. Therefore add an extra check to rule out
->usage==0 tasks from any iteration. The repeat: loop in css_task_iter_advance() doesn't consider ->usage count, so add a new loop to css_task_iter_next() to skip de-used tasks on the dying_list. Rough illustration of the possible race R (reader of cgroup.procs) T (thread) L (group leader)
--------------------------------- -------------------------------- -------------------------------- L exits, signal->live > 0 cgroup_task_dead(L) css_set_skip_task_iters() // skips only cset->tasks list_add_tail(&L->cg_list, &cset->dying_tasks) css_task_iter_next() take css_set_lock css_task_iter_advance() leader && signal->live != 0 => it->task_pos = &L->cg_list release css_set_lock T exits --signal->live == 0 cgroup_task_dead(T) // css_set_lock release_task(T) cgroup_task_release(T) release_task(L) // zap_leader cgroup_task_release(L) put_task_struct_rcu_user(L) ...RCU...
put_task_struct(L) L->usage = 0 /* L still on dying_tasks */ ...RCU... __put_task_struct(L) css_task_iter_next() // another iteration take css_set_lock it->task_pos = &L->cg_list get_task_struct(L) => addition on 0 drop css_set_lock cgroup_task_free(L) css_set_skip_task_iters() // dying skip comes too late free_task(L) cgroup_procs_show() task_pid_vnr(L) (CVE-2026-98163)

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://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-98163

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 369312

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_98163.nasl

Version: 1.2

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 10/21/2026

Updated: 10/22/2026

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Tenable Cloud Security, Tenable Self-Hosted Container Security, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.9

Percentile: 96.5

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6

Temporal Score: 5.1

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:H/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-98163

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7

Temporal Score: 6.4

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

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:26.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-allwinner-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.3, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-6.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-6.17, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-7.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.3, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-6.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-6.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-6.17, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-7.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-edge, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde-6.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde-6.17, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde-7.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fde, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-nvidia-6.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.3, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-6.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-6.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-6.17, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-7.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke-4.15, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke-5.15, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke-5.4, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gkeop-5.15, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gkeop-5.4, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gkeop, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-6.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-6.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-7.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-edge, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-ibm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-intel-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-intel-iot-realtime, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-6.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-6.17, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-7.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia-bos, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-nvidia, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.10, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.17, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-5.6, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.1, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-6.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem-7.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.13, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.3, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-6.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-6.17, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-7.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-raspi-realtime, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-raspi2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-raspi, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-realtime, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-5.11, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-5.8, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-6.14, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-6.17, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv-7.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-starfive-5.19, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-starfive-6.2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-starfive-6.5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux

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: 9/26/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-98163