[CVE-2026-89859][MODERATE 7.0] scsi: qla2xxx: Zero dport diagnostics buffer to avoid info leak

[AL-KERNEL <alkernel@kernelcve.org>]

CVE: CVE-2026-89859
Priority: MODERATE 7.0
AL-KERNEL base severity: MODERATE
KPANIC flag: YES
Patch: scsi: qla2xxx: Zero dport diagnostics buffer to avoid info leak
Commit: 9fc03be982763a131913f84fe73b240ae45bca37
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=9fc03be982763a131913f84fe73b240ae45bca37
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-89859
Analysis date: Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:56:59 -0400
ActionableScore: 5
ActionableScore lower bound: 4
Actionable bucket: Actionable Moderate
Manual review required: YES

Summary:
No one-sentence report phrase was found.

======================================================================
ABOUT THIS REPORT
======================================================================

The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-89859 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-89859

The original announcement does not normally provide a security severity
estimate, CVSS assessment, or enough information to determine whether the
reported kernel bug represents a practically relevant security issue.

This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin. It combines
an autonomous classifier with LLM-assisted technical analysis and a
separate ActionableScore mechanism.

The purpose of this report is to prioritize Linux kernel CVEs before
manual review, identify cases that require prompt investigation, and
support automatic closure of issues that are unlikely to have meaningful
security impact.

Published priority for this report: MODERATE 7.0
Manual review required: YES

A detailed explanation of the methodology and priority rules is included
at the end of this message.

======================================================================
AL-KERNEL CLASSIFICATION RESULT
======================================================================

CVE-2026-89859	MODERATE	https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-89859 CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN LOW	Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N';*CWE-200;CWE-201;CWE-908;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N';BEST CVSS score: '5.5';DESCR 'A kernel heap information leak exists in the qla2xxx D_Port diagnostics BSG path because qla2x00_do_dport_diagnostics allocates the response object without zeroing it. The request copy may initialize only part of the structure and qla26xx_dport_diagnostics only clears dd buf, while the full response object is later copied back to user space. This can expose uninitialized options and unused fields from kernel heap memory to a local process with access to the qla2xxx BSG interface. For the CVSS the PR:L is used because reliable triggering requires local access to the device interface, but it does not necessarily require full system administrator privileges if such access is delegated to a storage service or device access group. The issue is not network reachable. Impact is information disclosure only, with no direct integrity or availability impact shown by the code path.';YES REQUIRES MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Actionable Moderate (with actual score 5)	YES	SIMPLEFIX LEAK HARDWARE LINUS  KPANIC INCREASED_FROM_LOW_BASED_ON_REQUIREMANUALCHECK	NO	NO	checked

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ACTIONABLESCORE ANALYSIS
======================================================================

ActionableScore=5
ActionableScoreLower=4
PrimitiveClass=CLASS_A
RealUAF=NO
HostAdminRequired=UNKNOWN
NamespaceScopedPrivilege=NO
ImportantCandidate=YES
ManualReview=REQUIRED
AutoDowngradeAllowed=NO

1. ActionableScore

* Raw conservative score: 4
* Conservative score: 4. No floor or cap applied.
* Raw paranoid score: 5
* Paranoid score: 5. No floor or cap applied.
* Final recommended bucket: **Actionable Moderate**::

2. Signal breakdown

Conservative signals:

* +2. Direct user-visible kernel heap information disclosure is established. `qla2x00_do_dport_diagnostics()` allocates `dd` with non-zeroing allocation, only part of the object is initialized, and the full object is copied back to user space.
* +1. Confidentiality impact is plausible because uninitialized kernel heap bytes from `options` and `unused[]` are returned to a local process.
* +1. Practical disclosure chain is directly established by the patch context: non-zeroed allocation -> partial initialization -> full `sizeof(*dd)` copy to user space.

Paranoid additional signal:

* +1. Repeated local access to the BSG diagnostics path could expose different heap contents over time, so the higher confidentiality interpretation is defensible for triage.

Non-awarded or withheld signals:

* RealUAF not awarded. No stale pointer, object lifetime violation, double free, or refcount misuse is shown.
* Controlled reclaim not demonstrated.
* Arbitrary read or write not demonstrated.
* Integrity impact not awarded because the bug copies stale heap bytes out but does not modify protected state.
* Availability impact not awarded because no crash, panic, resource exhaustion, or device-wide fatal failure is established.
* Remote reachability not awarded. The path is local BSG diagnostics, not network packet processing.
* Local unprivileged trigger not awarded because the supplied evidence does not prove that an ordinary unprivileged user can access the relevant qla2xxx BSG device node.
* Host-admin penalty not applied because host-admin-equivalent privilege is not positively established.
* Hardware rarity penalty not applied because the patch is driver-specific, but the input does not establish that the evaluated environment treats qla2xxx D_Port BSG access as rare and unreachable.

3. Reachability analysis

The trigger is local through the qla2xxx BSG D_Port diagnostics interface. A process must be able to submit the relevant BSG job to a supported qla2xxx adapter. The evidence supports `PR:L`-like access for CVSS-style reasoning when a local storage service, device group, or delegated management context can reach the device interface, but it does not prove ordinary unprivileged reachability.

HostAdminRequired is UNKNOWN because the exact device-node permissions and product policy are not supplied. NamespaceScopedPrivilege is NO because this is not a namespace-scoped network or container capability path. No network reachability is established. No race is involved. Supported qla2xxx hardware and D_Port diagnostics capability are practical prerequisites.

4. Primitive and severity interpretation

The exact primitive is an uninitialized kernel heap memory disclosure to user space. The affected object is a response buffer allocated with `kmalloc_obj()` and copied out in full after incomplete initialization. This is not memory corruption and not a UAF.

PrimitiveClass is CLASS_A because a concrete kernel disclosure primitive is established, although it is constrained and local. The demonstrated consequence is information disclosure only. The speculative consequence is that leaked heap bytes may assist other attacks, for example by exposing kernel pointers or sensitive residual data, but no direct privilege escalation, arbitrary read, arbitrary write, or integrity primitive is demonstrated.

ImportantCandidate is YES because kernel heap disclosure is a security-relevant primitive that should not be automatically dismissed from a one-line patch. AutoDowngradeAllowed is NO because automatically closing a direct kernel heap info leak would risk losing a meaningful confidentiality issue, even though this does not look like a strong Important or Critical candidate by itself.

5. One-sentence report phrase

A local qla2xxx BSG D_Port diagnostics request can receive uninitialized kernel heap bytes because the response object is allocated without zeroing and copied back to user space in full.

6. Manual review recommendation

MANUAL CHECK REQUIRED

The issue is a direct kernel heap information leak to user space, and the real impact depends on reachable device permissions, repeatability, and whether leaked bytes can expose sensitive kernel data or addresses.

7. Call-site confidence

Call-site confidence: high

======================================================================
UPSTREAM PATCH SUMMARY
======================================================================

Patch: scsi: qla2xxx: Zero dport diagnostics buffer to avoid info leak
Commit: 9fc03be982763a131913f84fe73b240ae45bca37
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=9fc03be982763a131913f84fe73b240ae45bca37

Commit description:

qla2x00_do_dport_diagnostics() allocates the qla_dport_diag response
buffer with kmalloc_obj() (non-zeroing) and, on success, copies the full
sizeof(*dd) back to user space via sg_copy_from_buffer(). The inbound
sg_copy_to_buffer() only fills as many bytes as the user request payload
provides, and qla26xx_dport_diagnostics() zeroes only dd->buf. The
options and unused[] fields are therefore copied out uninitialized,
leaking kernel heap contents to user space.

Allocate with kzalloc_obj(), matching qla2x00_do_dport_diagnostics_v2().

Fixes: ec89146 ("qla2xxx: Add bsg interface to support D_Port Diagnostics.")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Nilesh Javali <njavali@marvell.com>
Reviewed-by: Hannes Reinecke <hare@kernel.org>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260723050413.3897522-54-njavali@marvell.com
Signed-off-by: Martin K. Petersen (Oracle) <mkp@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>

Changed files:
  drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_bsg.c

Diff excerpt:

Not included in this email. See the upstream URL for the full patch.

Full patch:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=9fc03be982763a131913f84fe73b240ae45bca37

======================================================================
DETAILED REPORT METHODOLOGY
======================================================================

The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-89859 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-89859

The original CVE announcement normally does not include a security-level
estimate. In particular, it may not contain a CVSS assessment, an impact
level, or enough information to determine whether the reported bug is a
practically relevant security issue. One purpose of this parallel CVE list
is to provide that missing technical and prioritization information.

The original goal of the AL-KERNEL project was to prioritize Linux kernel
CVE analysis automatically before manual review. The system can also help
identify non-security issues that may be suitable for automatic closure.

This report was generated by AL-KERNEL, an AI-assisted Linux kernel
vulnerability analysis system developed by Alexander Larkin.

The first analysis stage combines an autonomous classifier with additional
LLM-based analysis. The autonomous classifier runs locally on a CPU and is
based on a backpropagation neural network. Together, these mechanisms
produce a technical vulnerability description, identify likely weakness
types, estimate CVSS severity, and provide input for ActionableScore.

Two CVSS estimates are retained because incomplete kernel vulnerability
information often permits more than one defensible interpretation:

  Conservative CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
  The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
  The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 5.5

The conservative vector represents a lower-impact interpretation.
The Best/paranoid vector intentionally represents a plausible upper-bound
interpretation and should not automatically be treated as demonstrated
real-world impact.

CVSS may also need to be adjusted for a particular Linux deployment,
because actual reachability, privileges, enabled kernel configuration,
hardware, namespaces, exposed device nodes, and other environmental
conditions can differ significantly between systems.

A separate ActionableScore mechanism evaluates practical remediation
urgency. Its analysis may include reachability, attack prerequisites,
subsystem exposure, memory-corruption characteristics, denial-of-service
reliability, and possible confidentiality, integrity, or
privilege-escalation impact.

  Conservative ActionableScore: 4
  Paranoid ActionableScore: 5

The final base severity is taken directly from the second tab-separated
field of the AL-KERNEL classification result. ActionableScore does not
replace or independently override that final AL-KERNEL decision, and
if ActionableScore adjusted impact level of ALKERNEL, then you would see
self-readable flags above like INCREASED_TO_HIGH_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCOREHIGHEREQTHAN7.

For an AL-KERNEL result of MODERATE, this report uses the following
additional presentation split:

  ActionableScore below 5   -> MODERATE REGULAR
  ActionableScore 5 or more -> MODERATE 7.0

The distinction between MODERATE REGULAR and MODERATE 7.0 makes it
possible to identify Moderate issues that should receive manual analysis
and fixes before lower-priority MODERATE REGULAR issues. In many cases,
MODERATE REGULAR fixes may wait for a later rebase or routine update.

There is one override in which MODERATE REGULAR becomes MODERATE 7.0
even when the ActionableScore is below 5. When the AL-KERNEL result
contains the KPANIC flag, a MODERATE result is always presented as
MODERATE 7.0. The KPANIC flag selected with few regexps without
usage of AI at all, so it helps to detect cases when Kernel Crash happens
and similar (to filter False-Negative results from the LLM usage).

KPANIC indicates that a reliable kernel crash, kernel panic, or similarly
serious kernel availability impact was identified by the classification
workflow.

AL-KERNEL base severity for this report: MODERATE
KPANIC detected for this report: YES
Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): MODERATE 7.0

These results are intended to support engineering triage. They are
machine-generated estimates, and cases marked for manual review should
be validated by a human security engineer before final disposition.
For more info read docs linked from here: https://kernelcve.org/
(and you can submit you own patch there to generate such a report
for non-existant CVE-id yet).

Note that in many cases this AI tool selects higher severity, than
real is (means you can expect Importants instead of Moderate 7.0 or
Moderates 7.0 instead of regular Moderates). If you see such cases,
please use reply email interface to add additional manual analyses
info to this particular CVE.
And please, please, let me know when you see Lows instead of Importants
or Important instead of Low (because particular for such cases I
need to tune this AI tool to make it better for this one and next similar).
My contact email for such notifications is alexanjelausa@gmail.com (and both
send reply to CVE record itself too and see "reply" button below for howto reply).