CVE-2026-64424

netpoll: fix a use-after-free on shutdown path

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: July 25, 2026 at 08:51 AM UTC
Updated: September 4, 2026 at 04:06 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netpoll: fix a use-after-free on shutdown path There is a use-after-free error on netpoll, which is clearly detected by KASAN. BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x3b/0x80 Read of size 1 at addr ... by task kworker/9:1 Workqueue: events queue_process Call Trace: skb_dequeue+0x1e/0xb0 queue_process+0x2c/0x600 process_scheduled_works+0x4b6/0x850 worker_thread+0x414/0x5a0 Allocated by task 242: __netpoll_setup+0x201/0x4a0 netpoll_setup+0x249/0x550 enabled_store+0x32f/0x380 Freed by task 0: kfree+0x1b7/0x540 rcu_core+0x3f8/0x7a0 The problem happens when there is a pending TX worker running in parallel with the cleanup path. This is what happens on netpoll shutdown path: 1) __netpoll_cleanup() is called 2) set dev->npinfo to NULL 3) call_rcu() with rcu_cleanup_netpoll_info() 3.1) rcu_cleanup_netpoll_info() tries to cancel all workers with cancel_delayed_work(), but doesn't wait for the worker to finish 4) and kfree(npinfo); Because 3.1) doesn't really cancel the work, as the comment says "we can't call cancel_delayed_work_sync here, as we are in softirq", the TX worker can run after 4). Tl;DR: queue_process() is not an RCU reader, it reaches npinfo through the work item via container_of(). Use disable_delayed_work_sync() to ensure the worker is completely stopped and prevent any future re-arming attempts. Once npinfo is set to NULL, senders will bail out and not queue new work. The disable flag ensures any in-flight re-arming attempts also fail silently. In the future, we can do the cleanup inline here without needing the npinfo->rcu rcu_head, but that is net-next material.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

3.6 ≤ v < 6.12.963.6 ≤ v < 6.18.393.6 ≤ v < 7.1.43.6 ≤ v < 7.23.6.1 ≤ v < 6.12.966.13 ≤ v < 6.18.396.19 ≤ v < 7.1.43.63.6 rc33.6 rc43.6 rc53.6 rc63.6 rc738e6bc185d9544dfad1774b3f8902a0b061aea257.2 rc1
Vendor states this is fixed in 45f1458a85017a023f138b22ac5c76abd477db42 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5ed09a108d93a3b002cc79823d9455b50c4a8be7 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 95ecc5b58042f6b6743b589e6588f1cd7ba336aa (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in a33f37f8d079da7236ed7b7e2aed2a34ab81e7cf (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 3.6 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.96 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.39 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1.4 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2 (unaffected)

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-416

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