Read the docs
TI-2026-33674 Aliases CVE-2026-45949GHSA-f8m7-rc76-gphg

hwrng: core - use RCU and work_struct to fix race condition

Priority LOW 20CWE-362Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
High
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 5 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hwrng: core - use RCU and work_struct to fix race condition Currently, hwrng_fill is not cleared until the hwrng_fillfn() thread exits. Since hwrng_unregister() reads hwrng_fill outside the rng_mutex lock, a concurrent hwrng_unregister() may call kthread_stop() again on the same task. Additionally, if hwrng_unregister() is called immediately after hwrng_register(), the stopped thread may have never been executed. Thus, hwrng_fill remains dirty even after hwrng_unregister() returns. In this case, subsequent calls to hwrng_register() will fail to start new threads, and hwrng_unregister() will call kthread_stop() on the same freed task. In both cases, a use-after-free occurs: refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free. WARNING: ... at lib/refcount.c:25 refcount_warn_saturate+0xec/0x1c0 Call Trace: kthread_stop+0x181/0x360 hwrng_unregister+0x288/0x380 virtrng_remove+0xe3/0x200 This patch fixes the race by protecting the global hwrng_fill pointer inside the rng_mutex lock, so that hwrng_fillfn() thread is stopped only once, and calls to kthread_run() and kthread_stop() are serialized with the lock held. To avoid deadlock in hwrng_fillfn() while being stopped with the lock held, we convert current_rng to RCU, so that get_current_rng() can read current_rng without holding the lock. To remove the lock from put_rng(), we also delay the actual cleanup into a work_struct. Since get_current_rng() no longer returns ERR_PTR values, the IS_ERR() checks are removed from its callers. With hwrng_fill protected by the rng_mutex lock, hwrng_fillfn() can no longer clear hwrng_fill itself. Therefore, if hwrng_fillfn() returns directly after current_rng is dropped, kthread_stop() would be called on a freed task_struct later. To fix this, hwrng_fillfn() calls schedule() now to keep the task alive until being stopped. The kthread_stop() call is also moved from hwrng_unregister() to drop_current_rng(), ensuring kthread_stop() is called on all possible paths where current_rng becomes NULL, so that the thread would not wait forever.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00089 0th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.75 +3Red Hat: 5 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Partial

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

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux3.17 and later6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.75, 6.18.14, 6.19.4, 7.0Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 3.17 and later Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.75, 6.18.14, 6.19.4, 7.0 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*3.17 to before 6.12.75; 6.13 to before 6.18.14; 6.19 to before 6.19.4VulnerableLinux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.17 to before 6.12.75; 6.13 to before 6.18.14; 6.19 to before 6.19.4 Vulnerable ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.75, 6.18.14, 6.19.4, 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 7AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-45949
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-f8m7-rc76-gphg
  3. 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/Linux@1cde96d5d53b9105b48617afbc4682a83db4ff04, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
  4. 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
  5. 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@d60bd663b746f17fc01fdc44dd01642594176344 · CNA
  6. 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
  7. 2026-11-03 CVSS score changed · Red Hat
  8. 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed

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