CVE-2026-46036: vfio/cdx: Serialize VFIO_DEVICE_SET_IRQS with a per-device mutex

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-46036 is a high (CVSS 7.8) Use After Free vulnerability in linux. EPSS estimates a 0.14% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 3.2% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 27-05-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 05-08-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vfio/cdx: Serialize VFIO_DEVICE_SET_IRQS with a per-device mutex vfio_cdx_set_msi_trigger() reads vdev->config_msi and operates on the vdev->cdx_irqs array based on its value, but provides no serialization against concurrent VFIO_DEVICE_SET_IRQS ioctls. Two callers can race such that one observes config_msi as set while another clears it and frees cdx_irqs via vfio_cdx_msi_disable(), resulting in a use-after-free of the cdx_irqs array. Add a cdx_irqs_lock mutex to struct vfio_cdx_device and acquire it in vfio_cdx_set_msi_trigger(), which is the single chokepoint through which all updates to config_msi, cdx_irqs, and msi_count flow, covering both the ioctl path and the close-device cleanup path. This keeps the test of config_msi atomic with the subsequent enable, disable, or trigger operations. Drop the pre-call !cdx_irqs test from vfio_cdx_irqs_cleanup() as part of this change: the optimization it provided is redundant with the !config_msi early-return inside vfio_cdx_msi_disable(), and leaving the test in place would be an unsynchronized read of state the new lock is meant to protect.

• CWE-416Use After FreeThe product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.