CVE-2026-98479: scsi: libiscsi_tcp: Check the data direction of a Data-In PDU

Severity: high (CVSS 7.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-10-18 · updated 2026-10-24

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: libiscsi_tcp: Check the data direction of a Data-In PDU The Data-In branch of iscsi_tcp_hdr_dissect() resolves the ITT to a task and copies the PDU's data segment into that command's scatterlist without asking whether the command was reading. iscsi_tcp_r2t_rsp() in the same file does ask, and rejects an R2T for a command that is not DMA_TO_DEVICE. A target that answers a WRITE command's ITT with a Data-In therefore has the initiator write target-supplied bytes into the pages that write was about to send. Those are the caller's own pinned pages for an O_DIRECT write, and page cache pages for a buffered one. Observed against a test target that emits one 512-byte Data-In naming a 128 KB write's ITT, after the R2T for that write. With O_DIRECT the caller's buffer ends up holding 512 bytes of the target's data while pwrite() returns 131072. Buffered is quieter: pwrite() and fsync() both succeed, nothing is logged, and reading those blocks back returns the target's bytes out of the page cache without a command going on the wire. Check the direction before using the scatterlist, the way the R2T path already does.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 2.6.29 — 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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