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CVE-2026-98538

writeback: bound cleanup_offline_cgwb() rescans by rotating scanned inodes

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: writeback: bound cleanup_offline_cgwb() rescans by rotating scanned inodes cleanup_offline_cgwb() prepares at most WB_MAX_INODES_PER_ISW inodes per call and is called again until the dying wb is drained, but every call walks wb->b_attached and then wb->b_dirty_time from the same end. Inodes already prepared (they stay on the list with I_WB_SWITCH set until the switch worker runs) and inodes that cannot be switched (I_FREEING, I_WILL_FREE, !SB_ACTIVE, DAX, already on the target wb) stay where they are, so each pass rescans a growing run of them under wb->list_lock and a full drain is quadratic in the number of inodes on the list. With ~17M inodes attached to one dying cgwb we saw this end in soft lockups, with CPUs reported stuck for 21-48s. Walk both lists from the oldest end and move every scanned inode to the newest end, so the next pass starts where the previous one stopped and the drain becomes linear. b_attached is unordered, so nobody sees the reorder there. b_dirty_time is ordered by dirtied_when, but the oldest unscanned inode stays at the end move_expired_inodes() picks from, sync takes the whole list regardless of order, and prepared inodes leave the list as soon as the switch work runs and get a new dirtied_time_when on the new wb anyway, so the only inodes left out of order are the ones that can never switch (DAX), and only on the dying wb.

Timeline

  1. ID reserved

    By Linux

  2. · 23 days later

    Published

  3. · 1 day later

    Record updated

Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.

Scores

No CVSS score yet: neither the CNA, CISA nor NVD has scored this CVE. NVD status: Received.

EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
0.21% · top 88% of all CVEs (10 Nov 2026)
Loading the EPSS history…

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Not scored.

Affected products

  • Linux · Linux

    • affected c22d70a162d3cc177282c4487be4d54876ca55c8 – < 2d1da58c79b66646721a644c6eb4dd1f9c5c9327
    • affected c22d70a162d3cc177282c4487be4d54876ca55c8 – < c96b4d1628868e1195da1a896f79e06f350a3187
    • affected c22d70a162d3cc177282c4487be4d54876ca55c8 – < 624dd0931162523d70f9db8c120b5ec6429a9b97
    • affected c22d70a162d3cc177282c4487be4d54876ca55c8 – < dd4b92067238771b604b59fdda8efed6d70ee823
    • affected c22d70a162d3cc177282c4487be4d54876ca55c8 – < 9dac137bf77e0683778fb34c86e730c6129e8cb6
    • affected c22d70a162d3cc177282c4487be4d54876ca55c8 – < f6988c90671e83db79df1b7b9d6fdb0e5947fd84
  • Linux · Linux

    • affected 5.14
    • unaffected < 5.14
    • unaffected 6.1.189 – ≤ 6.1.*
    • unaffected 6.6.158 – ≤ 6.6.*
    • unaffected 6.12.112 – ≤ 6.12.*
    • unaffected 6.18.55 – ≤ 6.18.*
    • unaffected 7.2.9 – ≤ 7.2.*
    • unaffected 7.3 – ≤ *

References

6

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

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Record last updated .