[CVE-2026-99262][LOW] io_uring/timeout: don't lose a cancel as io-wq arms a timeout

[CVE-2026-99262][LOW] io_uring/timeout: don't lose a cancel as io-wq arms a timeout

[AL-KERNEL]

CVE: CVE-2026-99262
Priority: LOW
AL-KERNEL base severity: LOW
KPANIC flag: NO
Patch: io_uring/timeout: don't lose a cancel as io-wq arms a timeout
Commit: f1fabf17f37b252b11d8fe5c70c8056b70b005ca
Upstream patch: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=f1fabf17f37b252b11d8fe5c70c8056b70b005ca
Original CVE announcement: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-99262
Analysis date: Tue, 03 Nov 2026 22:27:08 -0400
ActionableScore: 2
ActionableScore lower bound: unknown
Actionable bucket: Ordinary Moderate
Manual review required: NO

Summary:
A local io_uring cancellation race can leave an asynchronous timeout armed and delay task or ring exit until the timeout expires, without demonstrated memory corruption or security-boundary bypass.

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

The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-99262 is available here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-99262

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: LOW
Manual review required: NO

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

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

CVE-2026-99262	LOW	https://www.kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-99262 CHECK WITH IMPACT FROM ORIG NN IMPORTANT | AEGIS IMPACT MODERATE AEGIS_AS=1 LEGACY=LOW RESULT=DIFF (final Legacy and Aegis differ; FINAL: LOW, Aegis: MODERATE)	Maybe valid. Check manually. Hints by AL-KERNEL: The best (paranoid) CVSS is 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H';CWE-362;CWE-667;Other CVSS 'AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L';BEST CVSS score: '4.7';DESCR 'A race between io_wq timeout submission and cancellation can lose a cancel when IO_WQ_WORK_CANCEL is set after the worker initial check but before the request is inserted into timeout_list. The cancel path can receive EALREADY and then ENOENT while the worker later arms the timer, causing the request to run until timeout expiration and potentially stalling task or ring exit for the full duration. For the CVSS the PR:L value is selected because an attacker needs local code execution and access to io_uring, while AC:H reflects the required race window. The demonstrated primitive is a lost cancellation and prolonged resource retention rather than UAF, out of bounds access, information disclosure, or arbitrary memory modification. Automated impact decision path. The original SimpleNet classifier selected IMPORTANT. The primary LLM estimated paranoid CVSS 4.7 and the production ActionableScore returned 2 with recommendation Ordinary Moderate. The production rules then evaluated CVSS thresholds and ActionableScore thresholds. Recorded rule transitions were CVSS and initial triage stage IMPORTANT to MODERATE_KPANIC because the CVSS score, vector or bug class threshold rule was applied. ActionableScore thresholds stage MODERATE_KPANIC to LOW because the ActionableScore threshold rule was applied. final reconciliation stage LOW to LOW because KP specialist did not establish a qualifying panic and the cross model evidence reconciliation rule was applied. The legacy KP specialist has no review artifact for this run. The legacy FD or DH downgrade specialist has no review artifact for this run. Exact triggered rule markers were LOWERED_FROM_HIGH_BASED_ON_GUESSCVSS and DECREASED_TO_MODERATEREG_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN4 and DECREASED_TO_LOW_FROM_MODERATE_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN3 and KPANIC_UNSUPPORTED_REMOVED and V64_AEGIS_UNSUPPORTED_PROMOTION_BLOCKED. The independent weaker Aegis shadow evaluated CVSS 2.6 and ActionableScore 1 with primitive class CLASS_C and manual review REQUIRED. Its independently reconciled impact was MODERATE. The models disagreed but the aggregation rules retained the production result. The final reported impact is LOW.';NO MANUAL CHECK; ,and ActionableScore result is Ordinary Moderate (with actual score 2)	MAYBE	LOCK LEAK UAF IO_URING LOWERED_FROM_HIGH_BASED_ON_GUESSCVSS DECREASED_TO_MODERATEREG_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN4 DECREASED_TO_LOW_FROM_MODERATE_BASED_ON_ACTIONABLESCORELESSTHAN3 KPANIC_UNSUPPORTED_REMOVED V64_AEGIS_UNSUPPORTED_PROMOTION_BLOCKED	-	-	checked

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

ActionableScore=2
PrimitiveClass=NONE
RealUAF=NO
HostAdminRequired=NO
NamespaceScopedPrivilege=NO
ImportantCandidate=NO
ManualReview=NO
AutoDowngradeAllowed=YES
RequiresHostUID0=NO
AuthorizationDecisionBypass=NO
ProtectedResourceImpact=NONE
B4PendingReview=NO
B4PendingConfirmed=NO

1. ActionableScore

* Raw base score: 2.
* Conservative score: 2; no floor or cap applied.
* Raw paranoid score: 2.
* Paranoid score: 2; no stronger primitive is technically supported.
* Final recommended bucket: **Ordinary Moderate**::

2. Signal breakdown

* +1 Local unprivileged trigger: ordinary local code with io_uring access can submit an `IORING_OP_TIMEOUT` using `IOSQE_ASYNC` and attempt cancellation.
* +1 Availability impact: the lost cancellation can keep the task or ring-exit path waiting for the attacker-selected timeout duration.
* No hard-race penalty: a race window is required, but the evidence does not show a one-shot, externally uncontrollable, or unusually difficult-to-repeat race.
* No strong-DoS/crash point: no kernel panic, host-wide outage, or protected victim stall is shown.
* No corruption point: the defect loses a cancellation; it does not show UAF, OOB access, stale-object consumption, or memory modification.
* B5-R does not apply: there is no retry-accumulated heap OOB write or later consumption of corrupted structured state.
* No authorization score: `IO_WQ_WORK_CANCEL` is synchronization/lifecycle state, not a capability or access-control guard.
* No confidentiality, integrity, resource-leak, or privilege-escalation signal is supported.

3. Reachability analysis

The complete operation is available through the normally unprivileged io_uring interface; host UID 0, host-admin capabilities, namespace capabilities, prior privileged setup, and special hardware are not required. The attacker must win the interval between the worker’s initial cancellation-flag check and insertion into `timeout_list`. Repeated attempts appear possible, but race reliability is not established.

4. Primitive and severity reading

The exact defect is a check-to-insertion race that loses a cancellation and subsequently arms a valid timer. The request remains live until normal timeout expiration; there is no post-lifetime use or corrupted object. The shown effect is bounded process/ring-exit delay, while host-wide denial of service or cross-principal impact is unproven. Therefore the primitive is NONE, Important candidacy is unwarranted, and automatic downgrade is allowed.

5. One-sentence report phrase

A local io_uring cancellation race can leave an asynchronous timeout armed and delay task or ring exit until the timeout expires, without demonstrated memory corruption or security-boundary bypass.

6. Manual review advice

NO MANUAL CHECK NEEDED

The patch supports only a lost-cancellation liveness defect with bounded timeout delay.

7. Call-site confidence

Call-site confidence: high

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

Patch: io_uring/timeout: don't lose a cancel as io-wq arms a timeout
Commit: f1fabf17f37b252b11d8fe5c70c8056b70b005ca
Upstream URL: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=f1fabf17f37b252b11d8fe5c70c8056b70b005ca

Commit description:

An IORING_OP_TIMEOUT run by io-wq, because of IOSQE_ASYNC, has the same
problem as poll, futex and waitid. io_wq_submit_work() looks at
IO_WQ_WORK_CANCEL once, before it issues the request. A cancel in between
flags the work, gets -EALREADY, and searches ->timeout_list in vain,
while the worker then adds the request and starts the timer:

  io-wq worker                          io_try_cancel()
  io_wq_submit_work()
    IO_WQ_WORK_CANCEL isn't set
                                        io_async_cancel_one()
                                          sets IO_WQ_WORK_CANCEL
                                          = -EALREADY
                                        io_timeout_cancel() = -ENOENT
    io_timeout()
      adds the request to ->timeout_list
      hrtimer_start()
    = IOU_ISSUE_SKIP_COMPLETE

Nobody looks at the flag again, and the timeout runs its course. At ring
exit, io_uring_try_cancel_requests() cancels io-wq work and then kills
the timeouts the same way, so an exiting task can get stuck for the full
duration of such a timeout.

Look at the flag under ->timeout_lock, which the search takes as well,
and fail the request if it is set. If the search came first, the flag is
visible. If it comes later, it finds the request on the list.

[ 6.1: adds IO_URING_F_IOWQ, which io_wq_submit_work() didn't pass yet,
  and the __io_wq_cancel_seen()/io_wq_cancel_seen() helpers that the
  futex/waitid fix 5cb049d brought upstream; work->flags is not
  atomic and ->timeout_lock isn't raw here ]
Fixes: ce35a47 ("io_uring: add IOSQE_ASYNC")
Signed-off-by: Jens Axboe <axboe@kernel.dk>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>

Changed files:
  include/linux/io_uring.h
  io_uring/io_uring.c
  io_uring/io_uring.h
  io_uring/timeout.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=f1fabf17f37b252b11d8fe5c70c8056b70b005ca

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

The original Linux kernel CVE announcement for CVE-2026-99262 can be found here:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/?q=CVE-2026-99262

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:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
  The Best / paranoid CVSS vector: AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
  The Best / paranoid CVSS score: 4.7

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: unknown
  Paranoid ActionableScore: 2

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: LOW
KPANIC detected for this report: NO
Published priority for this report (same as in Subject): LOW

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).