CVE-2026-22998

About vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

nvme-tcp: fix NULL pointer dereferences in nvmet_tcp_build_pdu_iovec

Commit efa56305908b (“nvmet-tcp: Fix a kernel panic when host sends an invalid H2C PDU length”) added ttag bounds checking and data_offset validation in nvmet_tcp_handle_h2c_data_pdu(), but it did not validate whether the command’s data structures (cmd->req.sg and cmd->iov) have been properly initialized before processing H2C_DATA PDUs.

The nvmet_tcp_build_pdu_iovec() function dereferences these pointers without NULL checks. This can be triggered by sending H2C_DATA PDU immediately after the ICREQ/ICRESP handshake, before sending a CONNECT command or NVMe write command.

Attack vectors that trigger NULL pointer dereferences:

1. H2C_DATA PDU sent before CONNECT → both pointers NULL
2. H2C_DATA PDU for READ command → cmd->req.sg allocated, cmd->iov NULL
3. H2C_DATA PDU for uninitialized command slot → both pointers NULL

The fix validates both cmd->req.sg and cmd->iov before calling nvmet_tcp_build_pdu_iovec(). Both checks are required because:

• Uninitialized commands: both NULL
• READ commands: cmd->req.sg allocated, cmd->iov NULL
• WRITE commands: both allocated

Affected product:

AlmaLinux 9.2 ESU , CentOS 8.4 ELS , CentOS 8.5 ELS , CentOS Stream 8 ELS , TuxCare 9.6 ESU , Ubuntu 20.04 ELS

Affected packages:

kernel @ 4.18.0 (+5 more)

Live-patch status from KernelCare for each operating system.