CVE-2026-74578

crypto: algif_skcipher - force synchronous processing on trees without ctx->state

HIGH
7.1
CVSS Score
Published: August 16, 2026 at 08:20 AM UTC
Updated: October 16, 2026 at 08:17 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

Using Linux by Linux?

Get instant alerts when new vulnerabilities affect Linux - before attackers find them.

Real-time alertsTrack your software stackFree plan available
Severity
HIGH7.1
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: algif_skcipher - force synchronous processing on trees without ctx->state The AIO/async path in skcipher_recvmsg() passes the socket-wide ctx->iv directly into the skcipher request. After io_submit() the socket lock is dropped and the request is processed asynchronously, so a concurrent sendmsg(ALG_SET_IV) can overwrite ctx->iv and make the in-flight request run under an attacker-controlled IV. For CTR/stream modes this is IV/keystream reuse and lets an unprivileged user recover the plaintext of a concurrent operation. Snapshotting ctx->iv into per-request storage for the async path is not sufficient. For ciphers with statesize == 0 - which includes cbc and ctr - the MSG_MORE inter-chunk IV chaining is carried solely by the in-place req->iv writeback, which a snapshot redirects into per-request memory that af_alg_free_resources() releases on completion, silently producing wrong output. Writing the IV back from the completion callback instead is not possible either: that would require lock_sock() there, but the callback can run in softirq/atomic context, so it must not sleep. Make the operation synchronous instead, which removes both the IV race and any writeback race. This is equivalent to the upstream resolution, commit fcc77d33a34c ("net: Remove support for AIO on sockets"), which removed the AIO socket path across net/ entirely and so produces the same end state for this file. This patch deviates from that commit deliberately: rather than removing AIO socket support tree-wide, which would be far too invasive for stable, it removes only the AIO branch in crypto/algif_skcipher.c. io_submit() now completes synchronously; AF_ALG async is rarely used in practice. The -EIOCBQUEUED check in skcipher_recvmsg() is now dead but harmless, and is left alone to keep the fix minimal. Tested on 6.6.y: attacker IV injection dropped from 2296/200000 to 0/200000 after the change; MSG_MORE chunked CTR output bit-identical to single-shot.

Affected

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

4.14e870456d8e7c8d57c059ea479b5aadbb55ff4c3a
Vendor states this is fixed in 60eafc7b08c6689ea3ad39eff8d97aefc8a087c7 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 73dd3bf704ca6c20639de70c08e9a10bee904a95 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7b91e51d0eb7cbb07f7f086f9176bd93dbbc85dd (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in b05defc41b27c7d0c05c45f67bf5b91c28f93669 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in bf09b0be8e851f050e98da702d247c14d81b591a (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in d7860b682da55433b5da0591b0e4c1982ecd2689 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in f1a87ca0843d74482402a206ea2dfb315ee9acbd (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in fcc77d33a34cf271702e8daafb6c593e4626776d (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4.14 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.261 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.212 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.178 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.97 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.40 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.145 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1.5 (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

7.1HIGHLinux
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusRECEIVED

Get alerted

Stop reading CVE feeds looking for your own stack

Track the products you run and VulnTracker tells you when a new CVE affects them — with what is known about fixing it, and nothing about the rest.

Free plan, no card