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Linux Kernel CVE-2026-63980

| EUVDEUVD-2026-45753 HIGH
2026-07-19 Linux GHSA-pf6j-pgmp-5g96
7.5
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Linux
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Severity by source

Vendor (Linux) PRIMARY
7.5 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
vuln.today AI
5.9 MEDIUM

Remote connection teardown can trigger it (AV:N/PR:N), but success needs a narrow same-CPU softirq-vs-process race and nvmet_tcp+TLS config, so AC:H; impact is availability-only (deadlock), C:N/I:N/A:H.

3.1 AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE
HIGH
qualitative
Red Hat
5.5 MEDIUM
qualitative

Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).

CVSS VectorVendor: Linux

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

5
Analysis Generated
Jul 20, 2026 - 16:40 vuln.today
CVSS changed
Jul 20, 2026 - 15:22 NVD
7.5 (HIGH)
Patch available
Jul 19, 2026 - 17:19 EUVD
CVE Published
Jul 19, 2026 - 14:56 cve.org
HIGH 7.5
CVE Published
Jul 19, 2026 - 14:56 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net/handshake: Use spin_lock_bh for hn_lock

nvmet_tcp_state_change(), a socket callback that runs in BH context, can reach handshake_req_cancel() via nvmet_tcp_schedule_release_queue() and tls_handshake_cancel(). handshake_req_cancel() acquires hn->hn_lock with plain spin_lock(). If a process-context thread on the same CPU holds hn->hn_lock when a softirq invokes the cancel path, the lock attempt deadlocks. This is the only caller that invokes tls_handshake_cancel() from BH context; every other consumer calls it from process context.

Deferring the cancel to process context in the NVMe target is not straightforward: nvmet_tcp_schedule_release_queue() must call tls_handshake_cancel() atomically with its state transition to DISCONNECTING. If the cancel were deferred, the handshake completion callback could fire in the window before the cancel runs, observe the unexpected state, and return without dropping its kref on the queue. Reworking that interlock is considerably more invasive than hardening the handshake lock. Convert all hn->hn_lock acquisitions from spin_lock/spin_unlock to spin_lock_bh/spin_unlock_bh so the lock is never taken with softirqs enabled.

AnalysisAI

Denial of service in the Linux kernel's net/handshake (TLS handshake) subsystem allows a CPU-local deadlock on hosts acting as NVMe-over-TCP (nvmet_tcp) targets with in-kernel TLS. The nvmet_tcp_state_change() socket callback runs in softirq/BH context and reaches handshake_req_cancel(), which took hn->hn_lock with a plain spin_lock(); if a process-context thread on the same CPU already holds hn_lock when the softirq fires, the lock attempt deadlocks and hangs the CPU. No public exploit identified at time of analysis; EPSS is low (0.17%, 6th percentile) and it is not on CISA KEV, so this is a stability/availability hardening fix rather than an actively exploited threat.

Technical ContextAI

The root cause is a classic softirq-vs-process-context locking hazard (CWE-667 improper locking / CWE-833 deadlock; CWE was listed N/A in the feed). hn->hn_lock in the kernel handshake request tracking code (net/handshake) was acquired with spin_lock()/spin_unlock(), which does not disable bottom halves. handshake_req_cancel() is normally called from process context by TLS consumers, but the NVMe-over-TCP target path is unique: nvmet_tcp_state_change() is a socket state-change callback executed in BH (softirq) context and reaches tls_handshake_cancel() -> handshake_req_cancel() via nvmet_tcp_schedule_release_queue(). Because the cancel must happen atomically with the queue's transition to DISCONNECTING (deferring it would let the handshake completion callback observe an unexpected state and leak a kref on the queue), the fix cannot simply move the work to process context. Instead every hn->hn_lock acquisition is converted to spin_lock_bh()/spin_unlock_bh() so softirqs are disabled while the lock is held, eliminating the reentrancy window. The CPE data identifies the generic vendor cpe:2.3:a:linux:linux, i.e. the mainline/stable Linux kernel.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: update to a fixed stable kernel - 6.12.93, 6.18.35, 7.0.12, or 7.1 (or later in each series) - which converts all hn->hn_lock acquisitions to spin_lock_bh/spin_unlock_bh; the fix commits are at git.kernel.org (06ab5978, 0866569f, 91898de9, cc993e09) and the advisory is https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-63980. Where kernels cannot be updated immediately, the practical compensating control is to avoid the vulnerable path: do not deploy the host as an NVMe-over-TCP target with in-kernel TLS handshake enabled, or disable TLS on the nvmet_tcp listeners (trade-off: loss of transport encryption/authentication for NVMe-oF, so restrict the storage network to a trusted, isolated segment if you do this). Disabling or not loading the nvmet_tcp target functionality on hosts that are only NVMe-oF initiators also removes exposure with no downside for those roles. There is no application-level workaround for the race itself short of the code change, so patching is the durable fix.

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Important
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 Affected

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CVE-2026-63980 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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