---
id: CVE-2026-74384
title: 'nvme-multipath: fix flex array size in struct nvme_ns_head'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  nvme-multipath: fix flex array size in struct nvme_ns_head

  struct nvme_ns_head contains a flexible array member, current_path[],
  which is indexed using the NUMA node I…
severity: critical
cvss: 9.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cvssSource: cna
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 <
    7e7b167e65610dfa7564d449474f4b477f9d4c1c
  - >-
    Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 <
    316b5f1168264844aa125959de1d6da2b1905795
  - >-
    Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 <
    1d4131b5c9823c7d2c86389898ad1b466af7df5e
  - >-
    Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 <
    9ffdd11bd6c961b46b3689850ff6c5d7af5c5fe5
  - >-
    Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 <
    bde4d6eb53f7d3cdae7e62c9ee84345fdd6e70a6
  - >-
    Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 <
    140d6fff4ed266592492a23444043842b4af7a62
  - >-
    Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 <
    7173a741fed73de6247384056fe92e582ba12507
  - >-
    Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 <
    001e57554de81aa79c25c18fd53911d8a415c304
  - Linux 4.20
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'yes'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-10-16T18:54:58.881656Z'
published: '2026-08-15'
updated: '2026-10-16'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-16T18:55:36.724Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74384'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7e7b167e65610dfa7564d449474f4b477f9d4c1c'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/316b5f1168264844aa125959de1d6da2b1905795'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1d4131b5c9823c7d2c86389898ad1b466af7df5e'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9ffdd11bd6c961b46b3689850ff6c5d7af5c5fe5'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bde4d6eb53f7d3cdae7e62c9ee84345fdd6e70a6'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/140d6fff4ed266592492a23444043842b4af7a62'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7173a741fed73de6247384056fe92e582ba12507'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/001e57554de81aa79c25c18fd53911d8a415c304'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00755
epssPercentile: 0.54209
ingestedAt: '2026-10-16T19:46:24.371Z'
---

## Overview

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

nvme-multipath: fix flex array size in struct nvme_ns_head

struct nvme_ns_head contains a flexible array member, current_path[],
which is indexed using the NUMA node ID:
head->current_path[numa_node_id()]

The structure is currently allocated as:
size = sizeof(struct nvme_ns_head) +
       (num_possible_nodes() * sizeof(struct nvme_ns *));
head = kzalloc(size, GFP_KERNEL);

This allocation assumes that NUMA node IDs are sequential and densely
packed from 0 .. num_possible_nodes() - 1. While this assumption holds
on many systems, it is not always true on some architectures such as
powerpc.

On some powerpc systems, NUMA node IDs can be sparse. For example:
NUMA:
  NUMA node(s):              6
  NUMA node0 CPU(s):         80-159
  NUMA node8 CPU(s):         0-79
  NUMA node252 CPU(s):
  NUMA node253 CPU(s):
  NUMA node254 CPU(s):
  NUMA node255 CPU(s):

That is, the possible/online NUMA node IDs are: 0, 8, 252, 253, 254, 255
In this case: num_possible_nodes() = 6

So memory is allocated for only 6 entries in current_path[]. However,
the array is later indexed using the actual NUMA node ID. As a result,
accesses such as:
head->current_path[8] or
head->current_path[252]
goes out of bounds, leading to the following KASAN splat:

==================================================================
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in nvme_mpath_revalidate_paths+0x22c/0x290 [nvme_core]
Write of size 8 at addr c00020003bda35b8 by task kworker/u641:2/1997

CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 1997 Comm: kworker/u641:2 Not tainted 7.1.0-rc5-dirty #14 PREEMPT(lazy)
Hardware name: 8335-GTH POWER9 0x4e1202 opal:skiboot-v6.5.3-35-g1851b2a06 PowerNV
Workqueue: async async_run_entry_fn
Call Trace:
[c000200037fa7510] [c0000000021c23d4] dump_stack_lvl+0x88/0xdc (unreliable)
[c000200037fa7540] [c0000000009fda90] print_report+0x22c/0x67c
[c000200037fa7630] [c0000000009fd508] kasan_report+0x108/0x220
[c000200037fa7740] [c0000000009fff48] __asan_store8+0xe8/0x120
[c000200037fa7760] [c008000018e76474] nvme_mpath_revalidate_paths+0x22c/0x290 [nvme_core]
[c000200037fa7800] [c008000018e6556c] nvme_update_ns_info+0x4a4/0x5e0 [nvme_core]
[c000200037fa7a50] [c008000018e66270] nvme_alloc_ns+0x6d8/0x1a70 [nvme_core]
[c000200037fa7c20] [c008000018e679fc] nvme_scan_ns+0x3f4/0x630 [nvme_core]
[c000200037fa7d10] [c00000000031f22c] async_run_entry_fn+0x9c/0x3a0
[c000200037fa7db0] [c0000000002fa544] process_one_work+0x414/0xa10
[c000200037fa7ec0] [c0000000002fbf00] worker_thread+0x320/0x640
[c000200037fa7f80] [c00000000030d0f8] kthread+0x278/0x290
[c000200037fa7fe0] [c00000000000ded8] start_kernel_thread+0x14/0x18

Allocated by task 1997 on cpu 1 at 35.928317s:

The buggy address belongs to the object at c00020003bda3000
 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-rnd-15-2k of size 2048
The buggy address is located 16 bytes to the right of
 allocated 1448-byte region [c00020003bda3000, c00020003bda35a8)

The buggy address belongs to the physical page:

Memory state around the buggy address:
 c00020003bda3480: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
 c00020003bda3500: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
>c00020003bda3580: 00 00 00 00 00 fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc
                                        ^
 c00020003bda3600: fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc
 c00020003bda3680: fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc
==================================================================

Fix this by allocating the flexible array using nr_node_ids instead
of num_possible_nodes(). Since nr_node_ids represents the maximum
possible NUMA node IDs, indexing current_path[] using numa_node_id()
becomes safe even on systems with sparse node IDs.

## Affected

- `Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 < 7e7b167e65610dfa7564d449474f4b477f9d4c1c`
- `Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 < 316b5f1168264844aa125959de1d6da2b1905795`
- `Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 < 1d4131b5c9823c7d2c86389898ad1b466af7df5e`
- `Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 < 9ffdd11bd6c961b46b3689850ff6c5d7af5c5fe5`
- `Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 < bde4d6eb53f7d3cdae7e62c9ee84345fdd6e70a6`
- `Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 < 140d6fff4ed266592492a23444043842b4af7a62`
- `Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 < 7173a741fed73de6247384056fe92e582ba12507`
- `Linux >= f333444708f82c4a4d3ccac004da0bfd9cfdfa42 < 001e57554de81aa79c25c18fd53911d8a415c304`
- `Linux 4.20`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.
