CVE-2026-93198: dm-pcache: validate the persisted dirty_tail chain at load

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: dm-pcache: validate the persisted dirty_tail chain at load The writeback worker follows the persisted dirty_tail chain, which is decoded from the cache device independently of the key_tail chain that cache_replay() walks and bounds. A crafted image, whose on-media fields are authenticated only by a crc32c with a fixed seed, can aim dirty_tail at a chain of last ksets that never terminates, so cache_writeback_fn() re-arms itself with no delay forever. Walk the dirty_tail chain once at load with the same hop cap cache_replay() uses and fail the table load with -EIO if it does not reach an end within n_segs hops.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 6.18 — 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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