CVE-2026-90272: perf: arm_pmuv3: Zero initialize hw_id branch stack field

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: 2026-09-17 · updated 2026-10-19

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf: arm_pmuv3: Zero initialize hw_id branch stack field PERF_SAMPLE_BRANCH_HW_INDEX is supported by BRBE so hw_id is passed to userspace, but it's never set by the BRBE driver. Zero initialize it as it should be according to the docs: * For the architectures whose raw branch records are * already stored in age order, the hw_idx should be 0. It's probably too risky to remove PERF_SAMPLE_BRANCH_HW_INDEX from BRBE now in case anyone is setting it and reading the value, but zero initializing the whole struct also protects against the same issue with new fields that are added in the future.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 6.17 — fixed in 7.3

How to fix

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

References

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