CVE-2026-68398

ppp: defer channel free to an RCU grace period to fix pppol2tp RX UAF

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: August 10, 2026 at 12:04 PM UTC
Updated: October 19, 2026 at 10:17 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ppp: defer channel free to an RCU grace period to fix pppol2tp RX UAF pppol2tp_recv() runs in the L2TP UDP-encap softirq RX path: l2tp_udp_encap_recv() -> l2tp_recv_common() -> pppol2tp_recv() -> ppp_input(&po->chan) It runs under rcu_read_lock() holding only an l2tp_session reference and takes NO reference on the internal PPP channel (struct channel, chan->ppp) that ppp_input() dereferences. The pppox socket is SOCK_RCU_FREE, so 'po' and the embedded ppp_channel are RCU-safe. But the internal struct channel is a separate allocation that ppp_release_channel() frees with a plain kfree(): close(data socket) -> pppol2tp_release() -> pppox_unbind_sock() -> ppp_unregister_channel() -> ppp_release_channel() -> kfree(pch) For a channel that is bound (PPPIOCGCHAN) but not attached to a ppp unit (no PPPIOCCONNECT, pch->ppp == NULL) and not bridged, teardown skips both ppp_disconnect_channel()'s synchronize_net() and ppp_unbridge_channels()'s synchronize_rcu(), so the kfree() has no grace period. rcu_read_lock() in pppol2tp_recv() does not protect against a plain kfree(), so an in-flight ppp_input() on one CPU can dereference the channel just freed by close() on another CPU. The bug is reachable by an unprivileged user. Defer the channel free to an RCU callback via call_rcu() so the grace period fences any in-flight ppp_input(). The disconnect and unbridge teardown paths already fence with synchronize_net()/synchronize_rcu(); call_rcu() does the same here without stalling the close() path.

Affected

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

26f8819ddd10141ebe7bbce700fbab36bfa5f4783.16.543.2.994.14.1824.154.4.2254.9.2255803ecd7f6ac6f747582e775caa62ac9d04892619bcc0508576b2d50efd958f2ea1c5906749c2c89c2984681fe15cfb803a9132aaaf1140ab20a72c1d36e5ba7bbed5d7bd26e8609ffed503c2def401bee40fb2e1eb5bc0ddd3f2f83c6e39a454ef5a741
Vendor states this is fixed in 06213c85d8c0994f786c093b8b2a517987943ca6 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 110b765744b147c63882f5e9cb12931c5dc8d85f (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 3ab32218d7182705dae5c86f13925f458072da2c (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4bb84e964ff0fe0a171c965362de72f9820dbce9 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4e47f1ac188ece11d6fdabe44166a2776cc5bd4e (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in c9574b8a8edeb4edd3ac6472c27ef7184bdb2baa (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in ec4215683e47424c9c4762fd3c60f552a3119142 (fixed)
Affected range stops below 3.17, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 3.3, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 4.10, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Vendor states this is fixed in 4.15 (unaffected)
Affected range stops below 4.5, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.216 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.183 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.101 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.42 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.148 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1.6 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.8HIGHLinux
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusRECEIVED
CWE
CWE-416

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