net: udp_tunnel: fix memory leak in udp_tunnel_nic_unregister()
Key facts
- Attack vector
- —
- Privileges required
- —
- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
- —
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: udp_tunnel: fix memory leak in udp_tunnel_nic_unregister() syzbot reported a memory leak [1] in the UDP tunnel NIC offload code. When device registration fails (e.g. in register_netdevice()), netdev core unwinds by sending a single NETDEV_UNREGISTER notification. If work was queued during NETDEV_REGISTER (utn->work_pending is set), udp_tunnel_nic_unregister() returns early: if (utn->work_pending) return; Because failed registrations do not enter netdev_wait_allrefs_any(), no subsequent NETDEV_UNREGISTER rebroadcast will ever occur. As a result, the struct udp_tunnel_nic allocated in udp_tunnel_nic_alloc() is leaked permanently. Fix this by removing the early return. Instead, synchronously cancel any pending work with cancel_delayed_work_sync() before freeing @utn. To be able to call cancel_delayed_work_sync() while holding RTNL (the work also needs RTNL), switch udp_tunnel_nic_device_sync_work() to rtnl_trylock(). If RTNL is contended, requeue the work with a 1 jiffy delay (via queue_delayed_work()) to prevent high CPU contention while waiting for RTNL lock. The utn->work_pending bookkeeping is no longer needed and is removed, as the workqueue core already tracks the pending/running state of the work. [1] BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff888127d5f840 (size 96): comm "syz-executor", pid 5806, jiffies 4294942188 backtrace (crc 99fdb6c8): __kmalloc_noprof+0x3bf/0x550 udp_tunnel_nic_alloc net/ipv4/udp_tunnel_nic.c:756 [inline] udp_tunnel_nic_register net/ipv4/udp_tunnel_nic.c:833 [inline] udp_tunnel_nic_netdevice_event+0x804/0xab0 net/ipv4/udp_tunnel_nic.c:931 notifier_call_chain+0x59/0x160 kernel/notifier.c:85 call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x7d/0xb0 net/core/dev.c:2250 register_netdevice+0xc10/0xeb0 net/core/dev.c:11478
Why it matters now
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
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.103, 6.18.44, 7.1.8, 7.2
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-74543
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-6fp2-p6pg-3j24
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/Linux@52c753b46265243406690d980faa9514d3f53827, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@d53a8b927ac9788257266e115d4901ec6f455387 · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Other 6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d53a8b927ac9788257266e115d4901ec6f455387
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/52c753b46265243406690d980faa9514d3f53827
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b712da45bd9b9835d132e9fbc0c3e43c164cb1fd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f82a2ded3d7a9098267c84f14eafdb98c4550ac5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b322532a4b774db1b480a2de84125910a70739a5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/080695e6f005e2396f1207fd69d24c442cb230c6
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Sources
- CVE-2026-74543 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-74543 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-6fp2-p6pg-3j24 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-74543 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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