---
id: CVE-2026-97901
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  genetlink: pin family module during policy dump

  The generic netlink controller's policy dump keeps pointers to the target
  family's operation and policy tables in its c…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  genetlink: pin family module during policy dump

  The generic netlink controller's policy dump keeps pointers to the target
  family's operation and policy tables in its c…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= d07dcf9aadd6b2842b439e8668ff7ea2873f28d7 <
    508387ad95ef9c13aa6431678c39763e882da2dc
  - >-
    Linux >= d07dcf9aadd6b2842b439e8668ff7ea2873f28d7 <
    6d8e653fcf1c90310797eeba8e5fafe9ccc3de9e
  - >-
    Linux >= d07dcf9aadd6b2842b439e8668ff7ea2873f28d7 <
    6a1094c34d176827b2b173e163dcc964a13af93f
  - Linux 5.8
published: '2026-09-25'
updated: '2026-09-25'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-25T11:17:16.897'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97901'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/508387ad95ef9c13aa6431678c39763e882da2dc'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6a1094c34d176827b2b173e163dcc964a13af93f'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6d8e653fcf1c90310797eeba8e5fafe9ccc3de9e'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-09-25T11:06:38.894Z'
---

## Overview

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

genetlink: pin family module during policy dump

The generic netlink controller's policy dump keeps pointers to the target
family's operation and policy tables in its callback state.  A dump may be
split across multiple skbs and remain pending after the initial request.

Netlink pins the module which owns the dump callback, but in this case
that is the controller's owner rather than the target family's owner.  The
target family can consequently be unregistered and its module unloaded
while a policy dump is pending.  Advancing the dump then dereferences
policy memory from the unloaded module.

Take a reference to the target family's module when the dump starts.
Drop it from the error and done paths.  This matches the lifetime for which
the dump context retains the family and policy pointers.

## Remediation

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