CVE-2026-99223
keys: make keyring indexes independent of kernel addresses
What happened?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
keys: make keyring indexes independent of kernel addresses
KEYCTL_READ returns the serial numbers in a keyring in associative-array traversal order. The first word of the index is a public, deterministic hash of the type pointer, domain pointer and description. An unprivileged user can therefore insert keys with known descriptions, predict their order for each possible KASLR slide, and recover the kernel image address. On an x86-64 build with 16 MiB alignment, 45 user keys suffice to distinguish the candidate slides.
Remove the addresses from the whole index, not just its first hash word. Assign each key type and domain a nonzero 64-bit ID and hash those IDs and the description with a once-initialized SipHash key. Use the full IDs in the later index chunks as well. Truncating or hashing the IDs there would lose the guarantee that distinct type/domain/description tuples have a differing index bit.
Allocate IDs lazily since private key types need not be registered. Cache them in the index key so tree walks and copies of an existing index do not need to dereference a type descriptor that may have been unregistered. Keep the 32-bit chunk layout and diff_objects() bit offsets consistent, and retain the separate root slot for keyrings used by recursive search. The key comparison, permissions and userspace data format are unchanged; only the address-dependent in-memory ordering is replaced.
Affected software and versions
| Software | Version information | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| LinuxLinux | affected: b2a4df200d570b2c33a57e1ebfa5896e4bc81b69 to < 9ebe824d55983c9f063a2c9ef1a08b29812d406f; affected: b2a4df200d570b2c33a57e1ebfa5896e4bc81b69 to < e108b22999edbc6f431466baf6b2016c19b7ed31; affected: b2a4df200d570b2c33a57e1ebfa5896e4bc81b69 to < 9f084ef0beb68091e96ab96f0e95579aac8a77f9; affected: b2a4df200d570b2c33a57e1ebfa5896e4bc81b69 to < 8451d4a4c43127c3b9fdf9fc9ff3fea5539a61f9; affected: b2a4df200d570b2c33a57e1ebfa5896e4bc81b69 to < 13fc051269d670810d9e314061b61c6dd06116a0; affected: b2a4df200d570b2c33a57e1ebfa5896e4bc81b69 to < 61ac0585d9f4344d3dfb84b5edff1fee7d532897; affected: b2a4df200d570b2c33a57e1ebfa5896e4bc81b69 to < 84f7c699f8d139f743c7dc11ef41d085690955bb; affected: b2a4df200d570b2c33a57e1ebfa5896e4bc81b69 to < a113eba06bd1183c614d7994864d6e7054140cb9; affected: b2a4df200d570b2c33a57e1ebfa5896e4bc81b69 to < de891c73c1cf41ac8de12c07fa2c84d6a912ad0c | See vendor advisory |
| LinuxLinux | affected: 3.13; unaffected: 0 to < 3.13; unaffected: 5.10.273 to ≤ 5.10.*; unaffected: 5.15.224 to ≤ 5.15.*; unaffected: 6.1.191 to ≤ 6.1.*; unaffected: 6.6.161 to ≤ 6.6.*; unaffected: 6.12.115 to ≤ 6.12.*; unaffected: 6.18.60 to ≤ 6.18.*; unaffected: 7.2.14 to ≤ 7.2.*; unaffected: 7.3.1 to ≤ 7.3.*; unaffected: 7.4-rc1 to ≤ * | See vendor advisory |
Version information comes from the source record and can include unaffected products and exceptions. Distribution packages may contain backported fixes: an older upstream version alone does not prove a server is affected.
Is it being exploited?
This CVE was not listed in the CISA catalogue at our last retrieval. This does not establish that exploitation is absent.
How to respond
- Confirm the product, installed package version, and any configuration requirements in the vendor advisory.
- Follow the vendor’s remediation or workaround guidance in the references below. Structured fixed-version data is unavailable here; the publisher’s description may include a fix or workaround.
- Restart affected services if required, then verify the running version. Known exploitation may warrant investigation as well as patching.
Sources and remediation references
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-99223
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9ebe824d55983c9f063a2c9ef1a08b29812d406f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e108b22999edbc6f431466baf6b2016c19b7ed31
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9f084ef0beb68091e96ab96f0e95579aac8a77f9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8451d4a4c43127c3b9fdf9fc9ff3fea5539a61f9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/13fc051269d670810d9e314061b61c6dd06116a0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61ac0585d9f4344d3dfb84b5edff1fee7d532897
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/84f7c699f8d139f743c7dc11ef41d085690955bb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a113eba06bd1183c614d7994864d6e7054140cb9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de891c73c1cf41ac8de12c07fa2c84d6a912ad0c