ring-buffer: Use current_context for safe per-CPU buffer swap
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: 3 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: ring-buffer: Use current_context for safe per-CPU buffer swap The ring_buffer_swap_cpu() function currently checks the per-CPU committing counter to determine if a buffer is actively being written to before performing the swap. However, there exists a race window where this check can be bypassed: ring_buffer_lock_reserve cpu_buffer = buffer->buffers[cpu]; // cpu_buffer_a rb_reserve_next_event rb_start_commit // inc committing if (unlikely(READ_ONCE(cpu_buffer->buffer) != buffer)) {...} __rb_reserve_next rb_move_tail rb_end_commit(cpu_buffer); // dec committing => 0 /* interrupt hits here, successfully swaps! */ local_inc(&cpu_buffer->committing); ring_buffer_unlock_commit cpu_buffer = buffer->buffers[cpu]; // cpu_buffer_b rb_commit rb_end_commit RB_WARN_ON(cpu_buffer, !local_read(&cpu_buffer->committing)) // triggers warning The committing counter can temporarily drop to 0 during a single write operation (within rb_move_tail), creating a window where swap can succeed even though the write is still in progress. This leads to inconsistent buffer state and triggers the RB_WARN_ON in rb_commit(). Replace the committing counter check with current_context checks, which are set at the entry of ring_buffer_lock_reserve() and remain valid throughout the entire write operation, providing a reliable indicator of buffer busy state during swap.
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 5.10.266, 5.15.217, 6.1.184, 6.6.153, 6.12.105, 6.18.45, 7.1.9, 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-2026-74601
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-j5v7-fqrf-q39x
- 2026-10-18 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/26662bc8fced1d668fa1aa146eda085bfc67bd0b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6b524e6b234e45c7f5f90d13b042c6f57f80105c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/597f279b7b4a06412e3d965e98cc36e181cdbede
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/22709117d9ae95e52673685f98caac7c356a8227
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad7e10c7ea89af45ac1bf1814855d45da472703d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5b926fb04cb9ef3156dcf88c69a59d3d1a1c4f9f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5e6e2a18c20e88167d414f666032792e8bf19b80
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f27bdc43077e4fcb5557dfc315ee8d91e741f483
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Sources
- CVE-2026-74601 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-74601 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-j5v7-fqrf-q39x · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-74601 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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