HIGH Introduced in 3.10
isert RxBuffer Race
CVE-2026-90293
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
KernelScan AI5.8MEDIUM
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: IB/isert: post the full-feature receive buffers after session registration isert_put_login_tx() posts the full-feature receive buffers before __transport_register_session() runs, so an initiator that does not wait for the final Login Response can still have a SCSI command executed against an se_session whose se_tpg is NULL - the same oops as the previous patch, at target_submit+0xbe. Post them from isert_get_rx_pdu(), which the previous patch already uses to send that response, and post them before that send: the receive queue is filled at the moment the initiator is told it may use it. Allocating there keeps the existing property that a memory allocation failure cannot happen once the final Login Response is on the wire. The receive queue is already empty between the final Login Request and isert_post_recvm(); this moves the second point later, from a median of 92 us to 172 us over 1200 logins. Only an initiator that sends before it has been told to can reach that window, and on IB and RoCE its send is retried there until the buffers appear - isert_rdma_accept() asks for rnr_retry_count = 7. iWARP has no RNR flow control, so there the same send terminates the connection instead. Measured over rxe, 400 login cycles per run, with an initiator that does not wait: an instrumented build counted no entries to isert_recv_done() before the buffers are posted in 10 runs, where that initiator oopsed 8 of 10 unpatched runs and 5 of 10 with only the previous patch. Not tested: iWARP, discovery sessions over iSER, and real HCAs.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A remote iSER initiator can trigger a kernel oops on the target by sending SCSI commands before the iSCSI login handshake fully completes, exploiting a race window where receive buffers are posted before session registration finishes. The crash denies service to the storage target. Any deployment exposing an iSER target over the network is affected; air-gapped systems are not.
Vulnerability analysis
The iSER target driver posts full-feature receive buffers during the login phase before the iSCSI session is fully registered with the target core. An initiator that sends a SCSI command immediately—without waiting for the final Login Response—can have that command processed against a session whose internal target-portal-group pointer is still NULL, causing a kernel oops. The fix moves the receive-buffer posting and the transition to full-feature state to a later callback that runs only after session registration has completed, and posts the buffers before sending the Login Response so the receive queue is ready at the exact moment the initiator is told it may use it. A remote network initiator connecting to an iSER target over InfiniBand, RoCE, or iWARP can trigger this; no special privileges are needed beyond the ability to establish an iSCSI login connection.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.10 | 3.10 | 5.10.270 | 962edb9a6b0d |
| 6.6 | 3.10 | 6.6.157 | 9c21a4330222 |
| 6.12 | 3.10 | 6.12.110 | 9b2c61344992 |
| 6.18 | 3.10 | 6.18.52 | 6c506fee5a5f |
| 7.2 | 3.10 | 7.2.6 | ad4492dcaf90 |
| mainline | 3.10 | 7.3-rc1 | 5247dde9daac |
| 5.15 | 3.10 | 5.15.221 | 068fe9841d25 |
| 6.1 | 3.10 | 6.1.188 | d4f8257c3283 |
| cip/6.12 | 3.10 | 6.12.111-cip32 | 9b2c61344992 |