CVE-2026-93164 (GCVE-0-2026-93164)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-09-17 16:11 – Updated: 2026-09-17 16:11
VLAI
EPSS
VEX
Title
uprobes/x86: Move optimized uprobe from nop5 to nop10
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
uprobes/x86: Move optimized uprobe from nop5 to nop10
Andrii reported an issue with optimized uprobes [1] that can clobber
redzone area with call instruction storing return address on stack
where user code may keep temporary data without adjusting rsp.
Fixing this by moving the optimized uprobes on top of 10-bytes nop
instruction, so we can squeeze another instruction to escape the
redzone area before doing the call, like:
lea -0x80(%rsp), %rsp
call tramp
Note the lea instruction is used to adjust the rsp register without
changing the flags.
We use nop10 and following transformation to optimized instructions
above and back as suggested by Peterz [2].
Optimize path (int3_update_optimize):
1) Initial state after set_swbp() installed the uprobe:
cc 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00
From offset 0 this is INT3 followed by the tail of the original
10-byte NOP.
After a previous unoptimization bytes 5..9 may still contain the
old call instruction, which remains valid for threads already there.
2) Rewrite the LEA tail and call displacement:
cc [8d 64 24 80 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3]
From offset 0 this traps on the uprobe INT3. Bytes 1..9 are not
executable entry points while byte 0 is trapped.
3) Publish the first LEA byte:
[48] 8d 64 24 80 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3
From offset 0 this is:
lea -0x80(%rsp), %rsp
call <uprobe-trampoline>
Unoptimize path (int3_update_unoptimize):
1) Initial optimized state:
48 8d 64 24 80 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3
Same as 3) above.
2) Trap new entries before restoring the NOP bytes:
[cc] 8d 64 24 80 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3
From offset 0 this traps. A thread that had already executed the
LEA can still reach the intact CALL at offset 5.
3) Restore bytes 1..4 of the original NOP while keeping byte 0 trapped
and byte 5 as CALL.
cc [2e 0f 1f 84] e8 d0 d1 d2 d3
From offset 0 this still traps. Offset 5 is still the CALL for any
thread that was already past the first LEA byte.
4) Publish the first byte of the original NOP:
[66] 2e 0f 1f 84 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3
From offset 0 this is the restored 10-byte NOP; the CALL opcode and
displacement are now only NOP operands. Offset 5 still decodes as
CALL for a thread that was already there.
Tthere is only a single target uprobe-trampoline for the given nop10
instruction address, so the CALL instruction will not be changed across
unoptimization/optimization cycles.
Therefore, any task that is preempted at the CALL instruction is guaranteed
to observe that CALL and not anything else.
Note as explained in [2] we need to use following nop10:
PF1 PF2 ESC NOPL MOD SIB DISP32
NOP10: 0x66, 0x2e, 0x0f, 0x1f, 0x84, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00 -- cs nopw 0x00000000(%rax,%rax,1)
which means we need to allow 0x2e prefix which maps to INAT_PFX_CS
attribute in is_prefix_bad function.
Also changing the uprobe syscall error when called out of uprobe
trampoline to -EPROTO, so we are able to detect the fixed kernel.
The optimized uprobe performance stays the same:
uprobe-nop : 3.129 ± 0.013M/s
uprobe-push : 3.045 ± 0.006M/s
uprobe-ret : 1.095 ± 0.004M/s
--> uprobe-nop10 : 7.170 ± 0.020M/s
uretprobe-nop : 2.143 ± 0.021M/s
uretprobe-push : 2.090 ± 0.000M/s
uretprobe-ret : 0.942 ± 0.000M/s
--> uretprobe-nop10: 3.381 ± 0.003M/s
usdt-nop : 3.245 ± 0.004M/s
--> usdt-nop10 : 7.256 ± 0.023M/s
[1] https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260509003146.976844-1-andrii@kernel.org/
[2] https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260518104306.GU3102624@noisy.programming.kicks-ass.net/#t
Severity
No CVSS data available.
Assigner
References
Impacted products
2 products
| Vendor | Product | Version | CPE status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux |
Affected:
ba2bfc97b4629b10bd8d02b36e04f3932a04cac4 , < 1b3fecd09910040668b752f3377d7218ca5c59ac
(git)
Affected: ba2bfc97b4629b10bd8d02b36e04f3932a04cac4 , < 554ba38456dad8053a1a80afe6ae6da9eff745cc (git) |
guessed | |
| Linux | Linux |
Affected:
6.18
Unaffected: 0 , < 6.18 (semver) Unaffected: 7.2.6 , ≤ 7.2.* (semver) Unaffected: 7.3-rc1 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix) |
guessed |
{
"containers": {
"cna": {
"affected": [
{
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"arch/x86/kernel/uprobes.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"lessThan": "1b3fecd09910040668b752f3377d7218ca5c59ac",
"status": "affected",
"version": "ba2bfc97b4629b10bd8d02b36e04f3932a04cac4",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "554ba38456dad8053a1a80afe6ae6da9eff745cc",
"status": "affected",
"version": "ba2bfc97b4629b10bd8d02b36e04f3932a04cac4",
"versionType": "git"
}
]
},
{
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"arch/x86/kernel/uprobes.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.18"
},
{
"lessThan": "6.18",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.2.6",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.3-rc1",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
}
]
}
],
"cpeApplicability": [
{
"nodes": [
{
"cpeMatch": [
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "7.2.6",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.18",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "7.3-rc1",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.18",
"vulnerable": true
}
],
"negate": false,
"operator": "OR"
}
]
}
],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nuprobes/x86: Move optimized uprobe from nop5 to nop10\n\nAndrii reported an issue with optimized uprobes [1] that can clobber\nredzone area with call instruction storing return address on stack\nwhere user code may keep temporary data without adjusting rsp.\n\nFixing this by moving the optimized uprobes on top of 10-bytes nop\ninstruction, so we can squeeze another instruction to escape the\nredzone area before doing the call, like:\n\n lea -0x80(%rsp), %rsp\n call tramp\n\nNote the lea instruction is used to adjust the rsp register without\nchanging the flags.\n\nWe use nop10 and following transformation to optimized instructions\nabove and back as suggested by Peterz [2].\n\nOptimize path (int3_update_optimize):\n\n 1) Initial state after set_swbp() installed the uprobe:\n cc 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00\n\n From offset 0 this is INT3 followed by the tail of the original\n 10-byte NOP.\n\n After a previous unoptimization bytes 5..9 may still contain the\n old call instruction, which remains valid for threads already there.\n\n 2) Rewrite the LEA tail and call displacement:\n cc [8d 64 24 80 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3]\n\n From offset 0 this traps on the uprobe INT3. Bytes 1..9 are not\n executable entry points while byte 0 is trapped.\n\n 3) Publish the first LEA byte:\n [48] 8d 64 24 80 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3\n\n From offset 0 this is:\n lea -0x80(%rsp), %rsp\n call \u003cuprobe-trampoline\u003e\n\nUnoptimize path (int3_update_unoptimize):\n\n 1) Initial optimized state:\n 48 8d 64 24 80 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3\n Same as 3) above.\n\n 2) Trap new entries before restoring the NOP bytes:\n [cc] 8d 64 24 80 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3\n\n From offset 0 this traps. A thread that had already executed the\n LEA can still reach the intact CALL at offset 5.\n\n 3) Restore bytes 1..4 of the original NOP while keeping byte 0 trapped\n and byte 5 as CALL.\n cc [2e 0f 1f 84] e8 d0 d1 d2 d3\n\n From offset 0 this still traps. Offset 5 is still the CALL for any\n thread that was already past the first LEA byte.\n\n 4) Publish the first byte of the original NOP:\n [66] 2e 0f 1f 84 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3\n\n From offset 0 this is the restored 10-byte NOP; the CALL opcode and\n displacement are now only NOP operands. Offset 5 still decodes as\n CALL for a thread that was already there.\n\n Tthere is only a single target uprobe-trampoline for the given nop10\n instruction address, so the CALL instruction will not be changed across\n unoptimization/optimization cycles.\n Therefore, any task that is preempted at the CALL instruction is guaranteed\n to observe that CALL and not anything else.\n\nNote as explained in [2] we need to use following nop10:\n PF1 PF2 ESC NOPL MOD SIB DISP32\nNOP10: 0x66, 0x2e, 0x0f, 0x1f, 0x84, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00 -- cs nopw 0x00000000(%rax,%rax,1)\n\nwhich means we need to allow 0x2e prefix which maps to INAT_PFX_CS\nattribute in is_prefix_bad function.\n\nAlso changing the uprobe syscall error when called out of uprobe\ntrampoline to -EPROTO, so we are able to detect the fixed kernel.\n\nThe optimized uprobe performance stays the same:\n\n uprobe-nop : 3.129 \u00b1 0.013M/s\n uprobe-push : 3.045 \u00b1 0.006M/s\n uprobe-ret : 1.095 \u00b1 0.004M/s\n --\u003e uprobe-nop10 : 7.170 \u00b1 0.020M/s\n uretprobe-nop : 2.143 \u00b1 0.021M/s\n uretprobe-push : 2.090 \u00b1 0.000M/s\n uretprobe-ret : 0.942 \u00b1 0.000M/s\n --\u003e uretprobe-nop10: 3.381 \u00b1 0.003M/s\n usdt-nop : 3.245 \u00b1 0.004M/s\n --\u003e usdt-nop10 : 7.256 \u00b1 0.023M/s\n\n[1] https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260509003146.976844-1-andrii@kernel.org/\n[2] https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260518104306.GU3102624@noisy.programming.kicks-ass.net/#t"
}
],
"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-09-17T16:11:57.248Z",
"orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"shortName": "Linux"
},
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b3fecd09910040668b752f3377d7218ca5c59ac"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/554ba38456dad8053a1a80afe6ae6da9eff745cc"
}
],
"title": "uprobes/x86: Move optimized uprobe from nop5 to nop10",
"x_generator": {
"engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
}
}
},
"cveMetadata": {
"assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"assignerShortName": "Linux",
"cveId": "CVE-2026-93164",
"datePublished": "2026-09-17T16:11:57.248Z",
"dateReserved": "2026-09-17T16:02:15.090Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-09-17T16:11:57.248Z",
"state": "PUBLISHED"
},
"dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
"dataVersion": "5.2",
"vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
"nvd": {
"cve": {
"affected": [
{
"affectedData": [
{
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"arch/x86/kernel/uprobes.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"lessThan": "1b3fecd09910040668b752f3377d7218ca5c59ac",
"status": "affected",
"version": "ba2bfc97b4629b10bd8d02b36e04f3932a04cac4",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "554ba38456dad8053a1a80afe6ae6da9eff745cc",
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"version": "ba2bfc97b4629b10bd8d02b36e04f3932a04cac4",
"versionType": "git"
}
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{
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
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],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.18"
},
{
"lessThan": "6.18",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
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"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.2.6",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.3-rc1",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
}
]
}
],
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}
],
"cveTags": [],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nuprobes/x86: Move optimized uprobe from nop5 to nop10\n\nAndrii reported an issue with optimized uprobes [1] that can clobber\nredzone area with call instruction storing return address on stack\nwhere user code may keep temporary data without adjusting rsp.\n\nFixing this by moving the optimized uprobes on top of 10-bytes nop\ninstruction, so we can squeeze another instruction to escape the\nredzone area before doing the call, like:\n\n lea -0x80(%rsp), %rsp\n call tramp\n\nNote the lea instruction is used to adjust the rsp register without\nchanging the flags.\n\nWe use nop10 and following transformation to optimized instructions\nabove and back as suggested by Peterz [2].\n\nOptimize path (int3_update_optimize):\n\n 1) Initial state after set_swbp() installed the uprobe:\n cc 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00\n\n From offset 0 this is INT3 followed by the tail of the original\n 10-byte NOP.\n\n After a previous unoptimization bytes 5..9 may still contain the\n old call instruction, which remains valid for threads already there.\n\n 2) Rewrite the LEA tail and call displacement:\n cc [8d 64 24 80 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3]\n\n From offset 0 this traps on the uprobe INT3. Bytes 1..9 are not\n executable entry points while byte 0 is trapped.\n\n 3) Publish the first LEA byte:\n [48] 8d 64 24 80 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3\n\n From offset 0 this is:\n lea -0x80(%rsp), %rsp\n call \u003cuprobe-trampoline\u003e\n\nUnoptimize path (int3_update_unoptimize):\n\n 1) Initial optimized state:\n 48 8d 64 24 80 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3\n Same as 3) above.\n\n 2) Trap new entries before restoring the NOP bytes:\n [cc] 8d 64 24 80 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3\n\n From offset 0 this traps. A thread that had already executed the\n LEA can still reach the intact CALL at offset 5.\n\n 3) Restore bytes 1..4 of the original NOP while keeping byte 0 trapped\n and byte 5 as CALL.\n cc [2e 0f 1f 84] e8 d0 d1 d2 d3\n\n From offset 0 this still traps. Offset 5 is still the CALL for any\n thread that was already past the first LEA byte.\n\n 4) Publish the first byte of the original NOP:\n [66] 2e 0f 1f 84 e8 d0 d1 d2 d3\n\n From offset 0 this is the restored 10-byte NOP; the CALL opcode and\n displacement are now only NOP operands. Offset 5 still decodes as\n CALL for a thread that was already there.\n\n Tthere is only a single target uprobe-trampoline for the given nop10\n instruction address, so the CALL instruction will not be changed across\n unoptimization/optimization cycles.\n Therefore, any task that is preempted at the CALL instruction is guaranteed\n to observe that CALL and not anything else.\n\nNote as explained in [2] we need to use following nop10:\n PF1 PF2 ESC NOPL MOD SIB DISP32\nNOP10: 0x66, 0x2e, 0x0f, 0x1f, 0x84, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00 -- cs nopw 0x00000000(%rax,%rax,1)\n\nwhich means we need to allow 0x2e prefix which maps to INAT_PFX_CS\nattribute in is_prefix_bad function.\n\nAlso changing the uprobe syscall error when called out of uprobe\ntrampoline to -EPROTO, so we are able to detect the fixed kernel.\n\nThe optimized uprobe performance stays the same:\n\n uprobe-nop : 3.129 \u00b1 0.013M/s\n uprobe-push : 3.045 \u00b1 0.006M/s\n uprobe-ret : 1.095 \u00b1 0.004M/s\n --\u003e uprobe-nop10 : 7.170 \u00b1 0.020M/s\n uretprobe-nop : 2.143 \u00b1 0.021M/s\n uretprobe-push : 2.090 \u00b1 0.000M/s\n uretprobe-ret : 0.942 \u00b1 0.000M/s\n --\u003e uretprobe-nop10: 3.381 \u00b1 0.003M/s\n usdt-nop : 3.245 \u00b1 0.004M/s\n --\u003e usdt-nop10 : 7.256 \u00b1 0.023M/s\n\n[1] https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260509003146.976844-1-andrii@kernel.org/\n[2] https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260518104306.GU3102624@noisy.programming.kicks-ass.net/#t"
}
],
"id": "CVE-2026-93164",
"lastModified": "2026-09-17T17:18:11.890",
"metrics": {},
"published": "2026-09-17T17:18:11.890",
"references": [
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b3fecd09910040668b752f3377d7218ca5c59ac"
},
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/554ba38456dad8053a1a80afe6ae6da9eff745cc"
}
],
"sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"vulnStatus": "Received"
}
}
}
}
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Experimental. This forecast is provided for visualization only and may change without notice. Do not use it for operational decisions.
Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
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The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the
vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base
model, served locally by ML-Gateway.
They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.
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Related by attack behaviour
Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.
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