CVE-2026-89955: s390/vfio-ap: Fix NULL deref in status_show() during queue probe

Severity: unknown
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-09-16 · updated 2026-10-30

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: s390/vfio-ap: Fix NULL deref in status_show() during queue probe When vfio_ap_mdev_probe_queue() creates the sysfs attribute group, the queue's driver data has not yet been set. A concurrent read of the 'status' attribute can therefore call dev_get_drvdata() and get NULL, which is then passed directly to vfio_ap_mdev_for_queue() where q->apqn is unconditionally dereferenced, causing a NULL pointer dereference. Fix this by acquiring the update locks before calling sysfs_create_group(). The status_show() function acquires guests_lock before reading the driver data, so any concurrent read will block until after dev_set_drvdata() has been called and the update locks are released. As a bonus, the APQN no longer needs to be read from the queue struct after allocation — it can be read directly from apdev before allocation and stored in a local variable, which is then assigned to q->apqn once the allocation succeeds.

Affected products

Linux: 6.0 — fixed in 7.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux 7.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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