io_uring/msg_ring: ensure io_kiocb freeing is deferred for RCU
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring/msg_ring: ensure io_kiocb freeing is deferred for RCU syzbot reports that defer/local task_work adding via msg_ring can hit a request that has been freed: CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 19356 Comm: iou-wrk-19354 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc4-syzkaller-00108-g17bbde2e1716 #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/07/2025 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x189/0x250 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:408 [inline] print_report+0xd2/0x2b0 mm/kasan/report.c:521 kasan_report+0x118/0x150 mm/kasan/report.c:634 io_req_local_work_add io_uring/io_uring.c:1184 [inline] __io_req_task_work_add+0x589/0x950 io_uring/io_uring.c:1252 io_msg_remote_post io_uring/msg_ring.c:103 [inline] io_msg_data_remote io_uring/msg_ring.c:133 [inline] __io_msg_ring_data+0x820/0xaa0 io_uring/msg_ring.c:151 io_msg_ring_data io_uring/msg_ring.c:173 [inline] io_msg_ring+0x134/0xa00 io_uring/msg_ring.c:314 __io_issue_sqe+0x17e/0x4b0 io_uring/io_uring.c:1739 io_issue_sqe+0x165/0xfd0 io_uring/io_uring.c:1762 io_wq_submit_work+0x6e9/0xb90 io_uring/io_uring.c:1874 io_worker_handle_work+0x7cd/0x1180 io_uring/io-wq.c:642 io_wq_worker+0x42f/0xeb0 io_uring/io-wq.c:696 ret_from_fork+0x3fc/0x770 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:148 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245 </TASK> which is supposed to be safe with how requests are allocated. But msg ring requests alloc and free on their own, and hence must defer freeing to a sane time. Add an rcu_head and use kfree_rcu() in both spots where requests are freed. Only the one in io_msg_tw_complete() is strictly required as it has been visible on the other ring, but use it consistently in the other spot as well. This should not cause any other issues outside of KASAN rightfully complaining about it.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.11 and later | 6.12.46, 6.15.7, 6.16 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.11 and later Fixed in 6.12.46, 6.15.7, 6.16 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 6
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.11 to before 6.12.46; 6.13 to before 6.15.7 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.16 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.16 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.16 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.16 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.16 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.11 to before 6.12.46; 6.13 to before 6.15.7 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.16 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.16 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.16 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.16 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.16 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.12.46, 6.15.7, 6.16
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2026:1727 Released 2026-02-02 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0) kernel-64k-debug-devel-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0, kernel-64k-devel-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0 +12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS (v. 10.0) kernel-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0, kernel-64k-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0, kernel-64k-core-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0 +28
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder EUS (v. 10.0) kernel-tools-libs-devel-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0, libperf-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time EUS (v. 10.0) kernel-rt-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0, kernel-rt-64k-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0, kernel-rt-64k-core-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0 +21
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV EUS (v. 10.0) kernel-rt-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0, kernel-rt-core-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0, kernel-rt-debug-6.12.0-55.58.1.el10_0 +11
- RHSA-2026:1690 Released 2026-02-02 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) kernel-64k-debug-devel-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1, kernel-64k-devel-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1 +12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) kernel-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1, kernel-64k-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1, kernel-64k-core-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1 +29
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) kernel-tools-libs-devel-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1, libperf-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 10) kernel-rt-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1, kernel-rt-64k-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1, kernel-rt-64k-core-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1 +21
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 10) kernel-rt-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1, kernel-rt-core-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1, kernel-rt-debug-6.12.0-124.31.1.el10_1 +9
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:1690 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:1727 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:1690 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS (v. 10.0) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:1727 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:1690 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder EUS (v. 10.0) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:1727 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:1690 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time EUS (v. 10.0) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:1727 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:1690 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV EUS (v. 10.0) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:1727 |
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-38453
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-9gq9-xvp8-xm4m
References
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2025-38453 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-38453 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-9gq9-xvp8-xm4m · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-38453 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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