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TI-2026-31581 Aliases CVE-2026-43402GHSA-v6fj-q6v9-3hmm

kthread: consolidate kthread exit paths to prevent use-after-free

Priority MEDIUM 50CWE-416Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Code execution
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-416 and the CVSS impact.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kthread: consolidate kthread exit paths to prevent use-after-free Guillaume reported crashes via corrupted RCU callback function pointers during KUnit testing. The crash was traced back to the pidfs rhashtable conversion which replaced the 24-byte rb_node with an 8-byte rhash_head in struct pid, shrinking it from 160 to 144 bytes. struct kthread (without CONFIG_BLK_CGROUP) is also 144 bytes. With CONFIG_SLAB_MERGE_DEFAULT and SLAB_HWCACHE_ALIGN both round up to 192 bytes and share the same slab cache. struct pid.rcu.func and struct kthread.affinity_node both sit at offset 0x78. When a kthread exits via make_task_dead() it bypasses kthread_exit() and misses the affinity_node cleanup. free_kthread_struct() frees the memory while the node is still linked into the global kthread_affinity_list. A subsequent list_del() by another kthread writes through dangling list pointers into the freed and reused memory, corrupting the pid's rcu.func pointer. Instead of patching free_kthread_struct() to handle the missed cleanup, consolidate all kthread exit paths. Turn kthread_exit() into a macro that calls do_exit() and add kthread_do_exit() which is called from do_exit() for any task with PF_KTHREAD set. This guarantees that kthread-specific cleanup always happens regardless of the exit path - make_task_dead(), direct do_exit(), or kthread_exit(). Replace __to_kthread() with a new tsk_is_kthread() accessor in the public header. Export do_exit() since module code using the kthread_exit() macro now needs it directly.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00557 46th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 6.18.19, 6.19.9, 7.0Red Hat: 3 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
Yes
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux6.14 and later6.18.19, 6.19.9, 7.0Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.14 and later Fixed in 6.18.19, 6.19.9, 7.0 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 3

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*6.14 to before 6.18.19; 6.19 to before 6.19.9VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc1VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc2VulnerableLinux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.14 to before 6.18.19; 6.19 to before 6.19.9 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.18.19, 6.19.9, 7.0

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Not affected: 3 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-43402
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-v6fj-q6v9-3hmm
  3. 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
  4. 2026-10-19 Weakness changed · CISA ADP
  5. 2026-10-25 EPSS moved to the below the 50th percentile
  6. 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat

References

  • 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
See all 15278 →

Sources