KernelScan.io

HIGH Introduced in 3.10

isert LoginResponse Race

CVE-2026-90294

CVSS 7.5 / 10.0 NVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

KernelScan AI5.9MEDIUM

01

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: IB/isert: delay the final Login Response until the session is registered isert_put_login_tx() puts the final Login Response on the wire before __transport_register_session(), which iscsi_post_login_handler() reaches only after iscsi_target_do_login() returns. An initiator that issues a SCSI command as soon as it sees that response can have it executed against an se_session whose se_tpg is still NULL, and the ib-comp-wq worker oopses on the NULL dereference. Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc000000000f: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000078-0x000000000000007f] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 178 Comm: kworker/0:1H Not tainted 7.2.0-rc5-V2CTL-gf5098b6bae76 #10 PREEMPT(lazy) Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC v2 (i440FX + PIIX, arch_caps fix, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 Workqueue: ib-comp-wq ib_cq_poll_work RIP: 0010:target_submit+0xbe/0x390 Code: fa 48 c1 ea 03 80 3c 02 00 0f 85 89 02 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 4d 8b 64 24 18 49 8d 7c 24 78 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02 00 0f 85 5a 02 00 00 48 8d 7b 78 4d 8b 6c 24 78 48 b8 00 RSP: 0018:ffff8881058cfa78 EFLAGS: 00010206 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: ffff88810c78c6f0 RCX: ffffffff964bb363 RDX: 000000000000000f RSI: 00000000fffffe00 RDI: 0000000000000078 RBP: 1ffff11020b19f52 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed1020b19f52 R10: 0000000000000003 R11: ffff88810596c000 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: ffff88810c61b000 R14: ffff88810c6a3400 R15: ffff88810c61b044 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8881822b2000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f1f1b83c000 CR3: 000000006fe72001 CR4: 0000000000770ef0 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <TASK> ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_bh+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_target_submit+0x10/0x10 ? mutex_lock+0x81/0xe0 ? __pfx_mutex_lock+0x10/0x10 ? iscsit_execute_cmd+0x650/0x850 iscsit_sequence_cmd+0x186/0x3d0 iscsit_process_scsi_cmd+0x87/0x300 isert_recv_done+0x1002/0x2390 ? __pfx_isert_recv_done+0x10/0x10 ? rxe_poll_cq+0x253/0x3d0 ? finish_task_switch.isra.0+0x1dc/0xa70 __ib_process_cq+0xe1/0x390 ib_cq_poll_work+0x46/0x150 process_one_work+0x633/0x1030 ? assign_work+0x11d/0x370 worker_thread+0x45b/0xd10 ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 kthread+0x2c6/0x3b0 ? recalc_sigpending+0x15c/0x1e0 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x36e/0x5a0 ? __pfx_ret_from_fork+0x10/0x10 ? __switch_to+0x572/0xdd0 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 </TASK> Modules linked in: ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Delay the final Login Response instead. isert_get_rx_pdu() runs from iscsi_target_rx_thread() after conn->rx_login_comp, completed by iscsi_post_login_handler() after __transport_register_session(); iscsi-TCP and cxgbit already take PDUs from that thread, isert alone does not. The buffers are still posted first, so the initiator's first command does not meet an empty receive queue and nothing depends on RNR flow control, and the header and payload live in isert_conn, not in the struct iscsi_login that iscsi_target_nego_release() frees first. Over rxe, 400 login cycles per run, the oops appeared in 10 of 20 unpatched runs and in none of 20 runs with this patch. An initiator that never waits is handled by the next patch. Not tested: iWARP, discovery sessions over iSER, and real HCAs.

02

Engine v0.6.0

Risk summary

A remote iSCSI initiator connecting to an iSER target can trigger a kernel crash by sending a SCSI command immediately after login completes. The race window exists because the target sends its final Login Response before the session is fully registered. Any device acting as an iSER target with RDMA connectivity is affected.

Affecteddrivers/infiniband/ulp/isert/ib_isert.c (iSER target)

Vulnerability analysis

The iSER target driver sends the final iSCSI Login Response to the initiator before the session has been fully registered. A remote initiator that immediately issues a SCSI command after receiving that response can have it processed against a session that is not yet completely initialized. The kernel then dereferences a null pointer while trying to handle the new command, crashing the system. The fix delays sending the final Login Response until after session registration completes, so the initiator cannot submit commands until the session is fully initialized. This is reachable by any network client that can connect to an iSER target; no special privileges are needed on the initiator side, but the target must be configured to accept iSER connections over RDMA.

03

BranchIntroducedFixed inPatch commit
5.153.105.15.221a18fb8d540b3
6.63.106.6.157f84e9adf4d9f
6.183.106.18.52a6c19af05c17
7.23.107.2.64397ea31e3b0
mainline3.107.3-rc1464f5afa92d0
6.13.106.1.1880d2efc355982
5.103.105.10.270e148dbac4330
6.123.106.12.11011694889c4ba
cip/6.123.106.12.111-cip3211694889c4ba