afs: Fix UAF when sending a message
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: 2 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: afs: Fix UAF when sending a message In afs_make_call(), there's a race with async call reception and destruction. If a call is dispatched that doesn't have call->write_iter set (used to specify the data content for FS.StoreData), then the first rxrpc_kernel_send_data() will not set MSG_MORE in the msghdr. Once rxrpc_send_data() queues the last request packet, the response could come in at any time and cause the call to be completed and put. However, afs_make_call() will look at the call again to see it ->write_iter should be handled - something it's only allowed to do if it has its own ref on the call. Whilst this is the case for synchronous calls, it isn't true for async calls such as FS.FetchData. There's also a potential UAF in afs_make_call() in the event that an asynchronous call is being sent, but the call fails in some way (e.g. it gets aborted from the server). The problem there is that afs_make_call() tries to abort a call if the rxrpc send fails, but the asynchronous notification from rxrpc may have caused the afs_call to be torn down. generic/650 plays games with randomly taking CPUs offline, and can interject a significant delay such that the call is deallocated before afs_make_call() gets to check call->write_iter - and a UAF ensues (caught by KASAN). BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in afs_make_call+0x1c90/0x2210 [kafs] Read of size 8 at addr ffff888035e050e8 by task fsstress/1409 Fix this by making afs_make_op_call() give the op->call its own ref rather than transferring the caller's ref to it and then dropping the ref when afs_make_call() returns. This also means that the afs_make_call() func never loses its ref on the call now.
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 6.12.114, 6.18.44, 7.1.8, 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 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-74506
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-437r-ppxq-jxxh
- 2026-10-18 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@cbb0d3da042c01082f40166fdc99bf1752db72be · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-27 CVSS score changed · Red Hat
References
More Linux 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-2021-02452 Incorrect authorization in Ubuntu linux kernel 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
Sources
- CVE-2026-74506 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-74506 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-437r-ppxq-jxxh · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-74506 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences