xfrm: avoid lock inversion in nat keepalive work
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 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: xfrm: avoid lock inversion in nat keepalive work nat_keepalive_work() walks the state table while xfrm_state_walk() holds net->xfrm.xfrm_state_lock. Its callback then acquires x->lock, which conflicts with the delete path taking the same locks in reverse order via xfrm_state_delete() and __xfrm_state_delete(). This creates an AB-BA deadlock that is reported by lockdep when a NAT keepalive worker races with SA deletion. Fix this by splitting the keepalive walk into two phases. First, collect the candidate states while the walk holds xfrm_state_lock and take a reference on each state. Then, after the walk completes, process each collected state and acquire x->lock without nesting it under xfrm_state_lock.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.12.108, 6.18.49, 7.1.13, 7.2.3, 7.3
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 |
Not affected: 6 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-80845
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-cpc7-qx2r-p3m3
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-21 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-11-07 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ea09210462316e5235a25eccb11ad0708d86615e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5c86c895d1cac81a71ead3005084c6265cf6a7a5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/89ef3a2e1e4682ab82b0455ce113f8c39fb9e50d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a9fa05b7a1246797748d15771052639e0d3cabf1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/763fe700b7c58ad64fe5202c5638848244dd4127
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Sources
- CVE-2026-80845 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-80845 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-cpc7-qx2r-p3m3 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-80845 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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