CVE-2026-90325 — Kernel
HIGHCVE-2026-90325 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) vulnerability in Kernel. A fix is available for Kernel — see the affected versions and patch details below.
blk-cgroup: skip dying blkg in blkcg_activate_policy()
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2026-90325 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 374,847 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
KernelReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Linux packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
blk-cgroup: skip dying blkg in blkcg_activate_policy()
When switching IO schedulers on a block device, blkcg_activate_policy() can race with concurrent blkcg deletion, leading to a use-after-free in rcu_accelerate_cbs.
T1: T2: blkg_destroy kill(&blkg->refcnt) // blkg->refcnt=1->0 blkg_release // call_rcu(__blkg_release) ... blkg_free_workfn ->pd_free_fn(pd) elv_iosched_store elevator_switch ... iterate blkg list blkg_get(blkg) // blkg->refcnt=0->1 list_del_init(&blkg->q_node) blkg_put(pinned_blkg) // blkg->refcnt=1->0 blkg_release // call_rcu again rcu_accelerate_cbs // uaf
Fix this by checking hlist_unhashed(&blkg->blkcg_node) before getting a reference to the blkg. This is the same check used in blkg_destroy() to detect if a blkg has already been destroyed. If the blkg is already unhashed, skip processing it since it's being destroyed.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐧Linux | Kernel | ≥ 6.2.0&&< 6.1.17 | 6.1.17 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for Kernel, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update Kernel to 6.1.17 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-90325 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2026-90325 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2026-90325. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-90325 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2026-90325 across Linux dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.