CVE-2026-89962

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's powerpc/kexec_file component. The __merge_memory_ranges() function incorrectly handles overlapping memory ranges, leading to critical memory truncation. This issue can cause valid memory areas to be lost from kexec exclude lists, potentially allowing the crash kernel to overwrite active memory. The consequence of this flaw is data corruption or system crashes.

This vulnerability is rated as having a Moderate impact because exploitation is confined to local environments on PowerPC architectures and requires utilizing the kexec subsystem. Improper handling of overlapping memory regions during kexec_file operations can lead to the omission of reserved ranges, potentially corrupting memory or destabilizing the operating environment when launching a secondary kernel. Other hardware architectures and deployments that do not load crash kernels are not exposed to this issue.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.