Deadlock Affecting kernel6.18-debuginfo package, versions <1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023


Severity

Recommended
high

Based on Amazon Linux security rating.

Threat Intelligence

EPSS
0.22% (12th percentile)

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  • Snyk IDSNYK-AMZN2023-KERNEL618DEBUGINFO-21422901
  • published22 Oct 2026
  • disclosed14 Oct 2026

Introduced: 14 Oct 2026

NewCVE-2026-98388  (opens in a new tab)
CWE-833  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

Upgrade Amazon-Linux:2023 kernel6.18-debuginfo to version 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 or higher.
This issue was patched in ALAS2023-2026-3192.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream kernel6.18-debuginfo package and not the kernel6.18-debuginfo package as distributed by Amazon-Linux. See How to fix? for Amazon-Linux:2023 relevant fixed versions and status.

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

exec: do_close_on_exec() before taking exec_update_lock

do_close_on_exec() currently happens while holding the exec_update_lock, which is used in a lot of places that access process state to synchronize access checks. I recently added another such use of exec_update_lock, causing a regression.

do_close_on_exec() can block waiting for a reply from a filesystem. That means a hung filesystem can block codepaths that use exec_update_lock; and it also means that a FUSE filesystem which attempts to inspect the calling process can deadlock.

To avoid such problems, move do_close_on_exec() before the exec_update_lock is taken, but after the FD table has been copied if necessary.

I have looked through all the calls between the old and new position of the do_close_on_exec() call; there seems to be no file descriptor table access in between.

CVSS Base Scores

version 3.1