CVE-2026-46116

Aliases:UBUNTU-CVE-2026-46116DEBIAN-CVE-2026-46116
Advisory lineage Upstream: 0 Downstream: 53
Undergoing Analysis
Published: 28 May 2026, 09:35
Last modified:15 Sept 2026, 12:04

Vulnerability Summary

Overall Risk (default)
medium
31/100
CVSS Score
7.8 HIGH
v3.1 (cve.org)
EPSS Score
0.13% LOW
0% probability 0.00%
KEV
Not listed
Ransomware
No reports
Public exploits
None found
Dark Web
Not detected

Timeline

28 May 2026, 09:35
Published
Vulnerability first disclosed
15 Sept 2026, 12:04
Last Modified
Vulnerability information updated

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfrm: defensively unhash xfrm_state lists in __xfrm_state_delete KASAN reproduces a slab-use-after-free in __xfrm_state_delete()'s hlist_del_rcu calls under syzkaller load on linux-6.12.y stable (reproduced on 6.12.47, also reachable via the same code path on torvalds/master and on the ipsec tree). Nine unique signatures cluster in the xfrm_state lifecycle, the load-bearing one being: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __hlist_del include/linux/list.h:990 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in hlist_del_rcu include/linux/rculist.h:516 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __xfrm_state_delete net/xfrm/xfrm_state.c Write of size 8 at addr ffff8881198bcb70 by task kworker/u8:9/435 Workqueue: netns cleanup_net Call Trace: __hlist_del / hlist_del_rcu __xfrm_state_delete xfrm_state_delete xfrm_state_flush xfrm_state_fini ops_exit_list cleanup_net The other observed signatures hit the same slab object from __xfrm_state_lookup, xfrm_alloc_spi, __xfrm_state_insert and an OOB write variant of __xfrm_state_delete, all on the byseq/byspi hash chains. __xfrm_state_delete() guards its byseq and byspi unhashes with value-based predicates: if (x->km.seq) hlist_del_rcu(&x->byseq); if (x->id.spi) hlist_del_rcu(&x->byspi); while everywhere else in the file (e.g. state_cache, state_cache_input) the safer hlist_unhashed() check is used. xfrm_alloc_spi() sets x->id.spi = newspi inside xfrm_state_lock and then immediately inserts into byspi, but a path that observes x->id.spi != 0 outside of xfrm_state_lock can still skip-or-hit the byspi unhash inconsistently with whether x is actually on the list. The same holds for x->km.seq versus byseq, and the bydst/bysrc unhashes have no predicate at all, so a second __xfrm_state_delete() on the same object writes through LIST_POISON pprev. The defensive change here: - Use hlist_del_init_rcu() instead of hlist_del_rcu() on bydst, bysrc, byseq and byspi so a second deletion is a no-op rather than a write through LIST_POISON pprev. The byseq/byspi nodes are already initialised in xfrm_state_alloc(). - Test hlist_unhashed() rather than the value predicate for byseq/byspi, so the unhash decision tracks list state rather than mutable scalar fields. Empirical verification: applied this patch on top of v6.12.47, rebuilt, and re-ran the same syzkaller harness for 1h16m on a previously-crashy configuration that produced ~100 hits each of slab-use-after-free Read in xfrm_alloc_spi / Read in __xfrm_state_lookup / Write in __xfrm_state_delete. After the patch, 7.1M execs across 32 VMs at ~1550 exec/sec produced zero xfrm_state UAF/OOB hits. /proc/slabinfo confirms the xfrm_state slab is actively allocated and freed during the run (~143 KiB resident), so the fuzzer is still exercising those code paths -- they just no longer crash. Reproduction: - Linux 6.12.47 x86_64 + KASAN_GENERIC + KASAN_INLINE + KCOV - syzkaller @ 746545b8b1e4c3a128db8652b340d3df90ce61db - 32 QEMU/KVM VMs x 2 vCPU on AWS c5.metal bare metal - 9 unique signatures collected in ~9h, all within xfrm_state lifecycle

CVSS Metrics

  • v3.1•HIGH•Score: 7.8CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
  • v3.1•HIGH•Score: 7CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Trends

Current EPSS score: 0.13%• Percentile: 3%

Techniques & Countermeasures

  • CWE-416•Use After Free

    The 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.

  • CWE-763•Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference

    The product attempts to return a memory resource to the system, but it calls the wrong release function or calls the appropriate release function incorrectly.

Affected Systems

  • debian•linux

    < 5.10.262-1 | < 6.1.176-1 | < 6.12.88-1 | < 7.0.7-1

  • debian•linux-6.1

    < 6.1.176-1~deb11u1

  • ubuntu•linux

    all | all | < 6.8.0-136.136 | all | < 7.0.0-28.28

  • ubuntu•linux-allwinner-5.19

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws

    all | all | < 6.8.0-1061.64 | all | < 7.0.0-1009.9

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-5.0

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-5.11

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-5.13

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-5.15

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-5.19

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-5.3

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-5.4

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-5.8

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-6.14

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-6.17

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-6.2

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-6.5

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-6.8

    < 6.8.0-1061.64~22.04.1

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-fips

    all | < 6.8.0-1061.64+fips1

  • ubuntu•linux-aws-hwe

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure

    all | all | all | < 6.8.0-1063.71 | all | < 7.0.0-1010.10

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-4.15

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-5.11

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-5.13

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-5.15

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-5.19

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-5.3

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-5.4

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-5.8

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-6.11

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-6.14

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-6.17

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-6.2

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-6.5

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-6.8

    < 6.8.0-1063.71~22.04.1

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-7.0

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-edge

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-fde

    all | all | < 6.8.0-1062.69 | all | < 7.0.0-1009.9

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-fde-5.15

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-fde-5.19

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-fde-6.14

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-fde-6.2

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-fde-6.8

    < 6.8.0-1062.69~22.04.1

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-fips

    all | < 6.8.0-1063.71+fips2

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-nvidia

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-azure-nvidia-6.14

    all

  • ubuntu•linux-bluefield

    all | all | < 6.8.0-1028.33

  • ubuntu•linux-fips

    all | < 6.8.0-136.136+fips2

  • ubuntu•linux-gcp

    all | all | all | < 6.8.0-1064.72 | all | < 7.0.0-1008.8

  • ubuntu•linux-gcp-4.15

    all

Showing first 50 affected entries in server-rendered view.

References (60)