bpf: fix UAF by restoring RCU-delayed inode freeing in bpffs
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 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: bpf: fix UAF by restoring RCU-delayed inode freeing in bpffs commit 4f375ade6aa9 ("bpf: Avoid RCU context warning when unpinning htab with internal structs") moved inode cleanup from ->free_inode() into ->destroy_inode() to avoid sleeping in RCU context when calling bpf_any_put(). However this removed the RCU delay on freeing the inode itself and the cached symlink body (i_link), both of which can be accessed by RCU pathwalk (pick_link, may_lookup etc.). This causes a use-after-free when a concurrent unlinkat() drops the last inode reference and destroy_inode() frees the inode immediately, while another task is still walking the path in RCU mode and reads inode->i_opflags (offset +2) inside current_time() -> is_mgtime(). KASAN reports: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in is_mgtime include/linux/fs.h:2313 Read of size 2 at addr ffff8880407e4282 (offset +2 = i_opflags) The rules (per Al Viro): ->destroy_inode() called immediately, can sleep, use for blocking cleanup e.g. bpf_any_put() ->free_inode() called after RCU grace period, use for freeing inode and anything RCU-accessible e.g. i_link Fix: split the two concerns properly: - keep bpf_any_put() in bpf_destroy_inode() since it is blocking and needs to run promptly - introduce bpf_free_inode() to handle kfree(i_link) and free_inode_nonrcu() with proper RCU delay, preventing the UAF
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
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.15.195 to before 5.15.212; 6.1.157 to before 6.1.178; 6.6.113 to before 6.6.145; 6.12.54 to before 6.12.97; 6.17.4 to before 6.18 | 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 6.18 and later | 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.15.195 to before 5.15.212; 6.1.157 to before 6.1.178; 6.6.113 to before 6.6.145; 6.12.54 to before 6.12.97; 6.17.4 to before 6.18 Fixed in 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.18 and later Fixed in 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 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: Fix deferred |
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-2026-74363
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-99p6-gfcm-83g8
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Other 7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ea1c243c39e32b7fc1c2edfe32081ff7e30a877c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5fecb71c10c28aef276ba49c718dc961745fdcf0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c70d0f9114c3cc156f6029a400c4eb7e6f7c82b2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53649846e0437d1d9b7cb993cfe54c367addf7ae
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61f19729728243c82476dee31315143ed3275e7f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0497ff765746d9b2d17445c8f7cc737b36c0152a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b93c55b4932dd7e32dca8cf34a3443cc87a02906
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Sources
- CVE-2026-74363 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-74363 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-99p6-gfcm-83g8 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-74363 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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