section
FOSS
Kernel, distros, and the wider free and open source software world.
663 stories archived
Zapscape Is The Latest Linux Vulnerability For KVM Guest-To-Host Escape, LPE
Made public earlier today is Zapscape as a guest-to-host escape vulnerability affecting the Linux KVM x86 code for the past six years. This 2020 kernel change to KVM x86 can also be used as a local privilege escalation (LPE) exploit too where /dev/kvm is world-writable on some Linux distributions like RHEL...
Linux 7.2-rc7 Restoring Btrfs Fixup Worker Infrastructure To Address Silent Data Loss
Back during the Linux 7.2 merge window the Btrfs file-system dropped its COW fixup mechanism, which was used to detect dirty pages without an ordered extent. This code was removed as it was believed the kernel's memory management layer had solved the underlying conditions but in reality it ended up leading to silent data loss. That Btrfs fixup worker infrastructure is now restored in time for Linux 7.2-rc7 this weekend and the stable v7.2 kernel later this month...
Linux Networking Continues Being Bombarded With AI Patches
While the Linux WiFi/wireless maintainer just announced taking a stand against AI/LLM generated slop patches with a new "three second review" rule, the broader Linux networking subsystem continues to be bombarded with AI-generated patches...
IceWM 4.1 Window Manager Brings Bug Fixes
As the first new release since IceWM 4.0 released back on New Year's Day for this X11 window manager, IceWM 4.1 is now available...
Six stable kernels with a security fix
Greg Kroah-Hartman has announced the release of the 7.1.7 , 6.18.43 , 6.6.149 , 6.1.181 , 5.15.214 , and 5.10.263 stable kernels. These kernels fix a single security vulnerability ( CVE-2026-68480 ) that could allow data leakage through speculative execution. Users of those kernels are advised to upgrade.
Linux Patched For Safe RET Interrupt Vulnerability
Made public minutes ago is the Safe RET Interrupt Vulnerability which is now patched in the newest Linux kernel Git code. The Safe RET Interrupt Vulnerability stems from improper handling within Linux's Speculative Return Stack Overflow (SRSO) mitigation affecting AMD Zen 1 through Zen 4 processors...
Apple NVMe Linux Driver Sees Fixes After Being Bitten By New Firmware
A set of patches providing fixes for the Apple Silicon NVMe driver for the Linux kernel were sent out today due to new issues cropping up when running newer Apple firmware. Firmware shipped by macOS 15+ is causing issues with the current Apple NVMe open-source Linux driver developed by the Asahi Linux crew...
The Performance Benefits To Upgrading Mesa With Intel Arc B390 On Ubuntu Linux
If you are an early customer of the Framework Laptop 13 Pro or other Intel Core Ultra Series 3 Panther Lake laptop and using Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, there can be real benefit from upgrading your Mesa stack for the newer Iris Gallium3D and ANV Vulkan drivers. In this article are some benchmarks of the Framework Laptop 13 Pro with Core Ultra X9 388H with Arc B390 Xe3 integrated graphics for looking at the performance impact of using Mesa Git on Ubuntu Linux.
Linux Accidentally Left Legacy I/O & Memory Handlers Open In Kernel Lockdown Mode
For nearly the past decade has been the kernel lockdown mode for tightening up kernel access from user-space such as when UEFI Secure Boot is enabled. The kernel lockdown mode restricts PCI BAR access, no writing to /dev/mem, and other restrictions so user-space can't can't modify the running kernel or access sensitive kernel memory. An oversight has allowed legacy I/O and memory interfaces via sysfs to remain open in lockdown mode, but a fix is on the way...
[$] Bringing BPF to binfmt_misc
The kernel is able to run a few types of executable files, including native binaries in the ELF format and interpreted programs that begin with the #! marker. It also, however, has a mechanism, called binfmt_misc , that can be configured from user space to enable the transparent execution of programs in just about any format. This feature has been relatively static for years, but it seems likely to receive some significant updates in the near future, including the ability to load BPF programs that can decide how to run a given program.
Rust Coreutils 0.10 released
Version 0.10 of the uutils project's Rust Coreutils has been released. This release focused on compatibility with the GNU Core Utilities suite, with Rust Coreutils now passing 645 of 690 tests, up from 625 with version 0.9.0 . Notable changes in this release include addition of the mv --exchange option, an OpenSSL backend for checksum utilities, applying SELinux labels at creation when using mkdir , mkfifo , and mknod , as well as a number of performance and security improvements. The project has an online playground that runs the Rust Coreutils directly in the browser via WebAssembly for those who would like to try the utilities without installing them. LWN covered the uutils project in February 2025.
Linux Wireless Maintainer Takes Firm Stance Against AI/LLM Generated Slop Patches
In addition to the Linux kernel staging area now rejecting AI/LLM-generated patches except for real security fixes, the Linux wireless networking code is also seeing some shifts around how it will deal with AI/LLM generated patches...
Page Alloc Hogger Lets You Better Stress Memory Behavior On Linux For Testing/Debugging
A new kernel feature proposed by a Google engineer is Page Alloc Hogger to allow for fine control over where memory pages are allocated in order to more easily reproduce low-memory conditions, make it simpler to exert memory pressure, and enable other stressful memory conditions for testing/debugging how Linux copes...
AMD GFX1171 Support Merged For Mesa 26.3
Earlier this year we began seeing patches for AMD GFX1170 graphics IP labeled as "RDNA 4m" and that was then completed with also adding GFX1171 and GFX1172 as additional targets for the AMDGPU LLVM compiler back-end and AMDGPU kernel driver. Merged today for Mesa 26.3 is now adding the GFX1171 target to Mesa 26.3 for the RADV and RadeonSI drivers...
Qualcomm Proposes Synx For The Linux Kernel With "Significant" Power + Performance Benefits
Qualcomm engineers have initiated a discussion over upstreaming Synx to the Linux kernel, which is a global synchronization framework across different parts of SoCs. Qualcomm is already using Synx internally and is reported to provide "significant" power and performance benefits...
SteelSeries' Latest Arctis Nova 5X & Nova 7 Headsets To Be Supported By Linux 7.3
If you happen to have a gaming headset from the latest SteelSeries Nova 5X or Nova 7 series, the upcoming Linux 7.3 kernel will begin properly supporting those headsets...
Linux 7.3 To Fix Longstanding Gap In The Native Driver For Original Steam Controller
For those with one of the original Valve Steam Controllers from a decade ago and looking to make use of it with the native HID Linux driver outside of the Steam client or SDL, an important addition is coming with the Linux 7.3 kernel release later in the year...
[$] LWN.net Weekly Edition for August 6, 2026
Inside this week's LWN.net Weekly Edition: Front : Process-builder API; Fedora COI; FUSE io_uring buffer sizes; BPF network namespaces; FUSE plans; BPF libraries; directory creation system call. Briefs : AISI hack; JFrog on CVEs; npm worm; AUR adoption; NetBSD 11.0; b4 0.16.0; C-Kermit 11; Rust LLM policy; Servo 0.4.0; Quotes; ... Announcements : Newsletters, conferences, security updates, patches, and more.
Resources beta adds PowerPC temp, AMD NPU stats
Resources 51 beta, the system monitor Ubuntu now uses, adds AMD NPU stats, PowerPC CPU temps and alternative memory-usage metrics. You're reading Resources beta adds PowerPC temp, AMD NPU stats , a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu . Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
Rust Coreutils 0.10 Released With More Security Hardening, Increased GNU Compatibility
Rust Coreutils 0.10 is out today from the uutils project for this alternative to GNU Coreutils. Rust Coreutils 0.10 development focused on additional security hardening plus also increasing the GNU test suite compatibility and robustness...
Mesa 26.2 Released With NVK Mesh Shader Support, Many Other Vulkan Improvements
Mesa 26.2 stable is now available as the newest quarterly feature release for this set of open-source OpenGL and Vulkan drivers typically used on Linux systems...
USB4STREAM Adding Busy Poll Option For Lower Latency At The Cost Of Increased CPU Cycles
One of the nifty new features of Linux 7.2 is USB4STREAM as an Intel-developed solution for quickly sending data between USB4 connected systems. Now for the upcoming Linux 7.3 cycle, a busy poll mode is being added to provide lower-latency data transfers at the expense of increased CPU activity...
b4 0.16.0 released
Konstantin Ryabitsev has announced the release of version 0.16.0 of the b4 software-development tool. The biggest change is the addition of bug-tracking support: The new "b4 bugs" command integrates with git-bug to let you track bug reports alongside your git repository. Bugs are stored as git objects inside the repo, so they travel with the code and can be shared via git push/pull without any external service. There are also a lot of improvements to b4 review (which was covered here in March), better conflict resolution in b4 shazam , improved history rewriting, and more.
[$] Examining other network namespaces using BPF
Jordan Rife's work involves writing BPF programs for Cilium that interface with Kubernetes networking. As part of that work, he wants to enable BPF programs with appropriate permissions to iterate through the sockets of a different network namespace. He led a session about the idea at the 2026 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory-Management, and BPF Summit where the BPF developers in attendance were quick to suggest a number of related alternatives.