CVE-2026-74512

audit: fix potential use-after-free in audit_del_rule()

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: August 15, 2026 at 12:27 PM UTC
Updated: October 16, 2026 at 08:17 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: audit: fix potential use-after-free in audit_del_rule() `audit_del_rule()` destroys `e->rule.exe` via `audit_remove_mark_rule()` before unlinking the rule from RCU-visible filter lists and waiting for a grace period. Concurrent readers in `audit_filter()` and `audit_filter_rules()` still dereference `e->rule.exe`, while the fsnotify mark can be freed on an independent lifetime path. This creates a use-after-free window during rule deletion. Fix this by unlinking the rule from the RCU-visible lists and invoking `synchronize_rcu()` before calling `audit_remove_mark_rule()` (and other rule removal helpers). This ensures that all existing RCU readers have exited the critical section before any underlying resources are destroyed.

Affected

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

34d99af52ad40bd498ba66970579a5bc1fb1a3bc4.3
Vendor states this is fixed in 246df90b5f1a8a6e6abbd2f058b029558720adec (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 3f82927b399d7a276c0c12b6ff4424b747a0c9a7 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 45bf3df5b32e5a49953e7ceabc55f7dd85380e46 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5b8f46864f06d6dbacb7dcea52bc084dfd122638 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 78bde7e9bd36eaae1b8e8cfcd47f12a34f301dbf (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 8ae135a8962be9d4e8a131eb18eb06cdf02a47ce (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 93616c567469510b7bba55b2674e0c4523fd7e64 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in cae0dfed5d307b240bff71c3cf206652d1b6f215 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4.3 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.265 (unaffected)
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 6.12.103 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.44 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.151 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1.8 (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

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