xprtrdma: Fix ep kref imbalance on ADDR_CHANGE
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Adjacent network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 without a fix
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: xprtrdma: Fix ep kref imbalance on ADDR_CHANGE rpcrdma_cm_event_handler() falls through to the disconnected: label on RDMA_CM_EVENT_ADDR_CHANGE and calls rpcrdma_ep_put() with no matching get when the event arrives before RDMA_CM_EVENT_ESTABLISHED. The kref then underflows during connect teardown and rpcrdma_xprt_disconnect() operates on a freed ep. Reference counts across a normal connection lifecycle: rpcrdma_ep_create() kref_init ->1 rpcrdma_xprt_connect() ep_get ->2 (before post_recvs) RDMA_CM_EVENT_ESTABLISHED ep_get ->3 RDMA_CM_EVENT_DISCONNECTED ep_put ->2 rpcrdma_xprt_drain() ep_put ->1 rpcrdma_xprt_disconnect() tail ep_put ->0 (ep_destroy) The connect-time get in rpcrdma_xprt_connect(), taken just before rpcrdma_post_recvs() "while there are outstanding Receives," is balanced by rpcrdma_xprt_drain. ADDR_CHANGE before ESTABLISHED has no get to consume, so its put drops the count to 1 and the drain put then frees the ep while rpcrdma_xprt_disconnect() still holds a pointer to it. Fix by dispatching on the prior re_connect_status via xchg(): for prev == 0 (pre-ESTABLISHED) wake the connect waiter and return with no put; for prev == 1 call rpcrdma_force_disconnect() and return. The case-1 arm relies on the subsequent RDMA_CM_EVENT_DISCONNECTED event -- reliably delivered when rdma_disconnect() is called on a still-connected cm_id -- to balance the ESTABLISHED get; rpcrdma_xprt_drain() continues to balance only that connect-time get. Any other prior value means teardown is already in flight.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.8
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-72469
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-w6wr-jw44-5f3c
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-16 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@a562485c359d0b20a99d466b042af9c2f7ff3326 · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-30 CVSS score changed · Red Hat
References
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a562485c359d0b20a99d466b042af9c2f7ff3326
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cfd1bab66b042da7a778786685125656c695931b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0479c2b12974aa188b10d221a5770126b118b6d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ffc07790539736a5d029f6a3c966b46c529f93a8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/af9b65b29af341932625c4283dc7a23cdb62688a
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Sources
- CVE-2026-72469 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-72469 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-w6wr-jw44-5f3c · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-72469 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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