CVE-2026-99156

scsi: st: Fix use-after-free race between st_remove() and st_open()

N/A
Published: October 28, 2026 at 10:35 AM UTC
Updated: October 28, 2026 at 11:17 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
N/A
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: st: Fix use-after-free race between st_remove() and st_open() st_remove() drops the probe reference on the scsi_tape with kref_put() and only afterwards removes its index from st_index_idr. If that was the last reference, scsi_tape_release() frees the structure while it is still published in the idr. scsi_tape_get(), called from st_open(), looks up the tape in st_index_idr and takes a reference under st_ref_mutex and st_index_lock. remove_cdevs() does not wait for opens that are already past chrdev_open(), so an open that is blocked on st_ref_mutex while st_remove() holds it can take the mutex as soon as st_remove() drops it, find the freed tpnt in the idr and call kref_get() on it: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in st_open Write of size 4 ... st_open (drivers/scsi/st.c:254 drivers/scsi/st.c:1291) chrdev_open ... Freed by task ...: kfree st_remove (drivers/scsi/st.c:4512) Remove the index from the idr before dropping the reference, all under st_ref_mutex. A concurrent scsi_tape_get() now either runs first and holds a valid reference that keeps the tape alive, or runs afterwards and finds nothing, so st_open() fails with -ENXIO. This restores the ordering st_remove() had before the conversion to st_index_idr, where the tape was unpublished from scsi_tapes[] before the final kref_put().

Affected

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

3.76c648d95a6af4a79241a916871df17c84c68ea20
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.59 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2.13 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.3 (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.

Quick Info

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