---
id: CVE-2026-97942
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  x86/alternatives: Exclude text poking against change_page_attr()

  From time to time, the following BUG can be observed
  in the x86 alternatives patching code [0]:

    > k…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  x86/alternatives: Exclude text poking against change_page_attr()

  From time to time, the following BUG can be observed
  in the x86 alternatives patching code [0]:

    > k…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 64f6a4e10c05ed527f0f24b7954964255e0d3535 <
    281e6f536f2f3f95d91938c5bd7ba9bcb4c1049d
  - >-
    Linux >= 64f6a4e10c05ed527f0f24b7954964255e0d3535 <
    89c60435b90d32ab5e3a39da3ae73d463d07debe
  - >-
    Linux >= 64f6a4e10c05ed527f0f24b7954964255e0d3535 <
    1587d3394e254639cc36516256031334095e6ef3
  - Linux 6.15
published: '2026-09-25'
updated: '2026-09-25'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-25T11:17:21.633'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97942'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1587d3394e254639cc36516256031334095e6ef3'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/281e6f536f2f3f95d91938c5bd7ba9bcb4c1049d'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/89c60435b90d32ab5e3a39da3ae73d463d07debe'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-09-25T11:06:38.882Z'
---

## Overview

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

x86/alternatives: Exclude text poking against change_page_attr()

From time to time, the following BUG can be observed
in the x86 alternatives patching code [0]:

  > kernel BUG at arch/x86/kernel/alternative.c:2576!
  > Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
  > CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 355 Comm: (udev-worker) Not tainted 7.1.3-1-default #1 PREEMPT(full) openSUSE Tumbleweed  8c1795b03ec64f997e57a8ad38b1161e3b98da64
  > Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS unknown 02/02/2022
  > RIP: 0010:__text_poke+0x2aa/0x450
  > Call Trace:
  >  <TASK>
  >  smp_text_poke_batch_finish+0x2a7/0x320
  >  __static_call_transform+0xb7/0x220
  >  arch_static_call_transform+0x5b/0xb0
  >  __static_call_init+0xe9/0x270
  >  static_call_module_notify+0x11f/0x150
  >  notifier_call_chain+0x61/0xe0
  >  blocking_notifier_call_chain_robust+0x63/0xc0
  >  load_module+0x1c92/0x20c0
  >  init_module_from_file+0xd8/0x140
  >  idempotent_init_module+0x100/0x2f0
  >  __x64_sys_finit_module+0x71/0xe0
  >  do_syscall_64+0xe1/0x610
  >  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e

which matches the following BUG_ON() in alternative.c:

	/*
	 * If something went wrong, crash and burn since recovery paths are not
	 * implemented.
	 */
	BUG_ON(!pages[0] || (cross_page_boundary && !pages[1]));

This can happen if vmalloc_to_page() fails, for any reason. Such can happen
if text poking races with CPA, which can possibly result in the collapsing
of page tables (or breaking of PMD hugepages). It is not a problem for most
users of vmalloc_to_page() (they solely own the vmalloc'd range) but, when
CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_EXECMEM_ROX=y, various modules own a single execmem vmalloc
range, and can call set_memory_*() in parallel on it. This can happen to
race against __text_poke and cause havoc in vmalloc_to_page().

Fix it by excluding against CPA using the init_mm mmap read lock.

[ dhansen: Fix up SoB ordering. The actual code flow here was:
	   Pedro=>Lorenzo=>Mike=>Me which is reflected in the SoB chain
	   now. I *believe* Mike simply picked up Lorenzo's update to
	   Pedro's post from the Link ]

## Remediation

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