Race Condition Vulnerability in Linux Kernel Affecting Notification Handling

CVE-2026-99179

What is CVE-2026-99179?

A race condition in the Linux kernel arises from a conflict between the watch_queue_set_size() function and post_one_notification(). When these functions are executed concurrently on different CPUs, an unprivileged user can exploit this condition by initiating a notification pipe that triggers erroneous memory accesses, leading to a potential kernel panic due to a NULL pointer dereference. This vulnerability highlights the need for careful synchronization and memory management in the kernel to ensure stability and security during concurrent operations.

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