ftrace: Take trace_array reference before accessing its ftrace_ops
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: 6 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: ftrace: Take trace_array reference before accessing its ftrace_ops The trace instance files set_ftrace_filter and set_ftrace_notrace was updated to work with specific trace instances (trace_arrays). The issue is that when these files are opened, there is a small race window where it will use the ftrace_ops from the inode->private pointer to get a reference to the trace_array and then take its reference. The problem is that the ftrace_ops itself could be freed. If the rmdir on the instance happens at the same time the set_ftrace_filter file is opened, the rmdir could have also freed the ftrace_ops and referencing it will cause a use-after-free bug and crash the kernel. Instead, pass in the trace_array as the file private data (NULL for the top level instance), and then pass both the trace_array and the ftrace_ops to the ftrace_regex_open() function. If the trace_array is NULL, then it just uses the ftrace_ops without the need to take its reference (like normal). If the ftrace_ops is NULL, that is only the case for the top level instance and the global_ops can be used. This allows the trace_array to have its reference incremented before touching the ftrace_ops that could also be freed when the instance is.
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 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.112, 6.18.52, 7.2.5, 7.3
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 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-90002
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-hxw4-9m57-prf4
- 2026-10-03 Fix available: Linux/Linux@177cd8966325f0ffffa3c9381f9e0422019a3973, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-03 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/Linux@29266da8ee1d9be656b1f22460c49538e1930658, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/Linux@0124b36a7eac1dd0402146fc6c1f732877b9cd9f, Linux/[email protected], Linux/[email protected] +3 · CNA
- 2026-10-30 3 new references · CNA
- 2026-11-04 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-04 CVSS score added · Red Hat
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0124b36a7eac1dd0402146fc6c1f732877b9cd9f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ffe16fe221e25cd1915602e6753c3d3285ed9a98
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8f062a6bfeb4b4e18d469a673aec23a7b73c3e8a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/29266da8ee1d9be656b1f22460c49538e1930658
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/177cd8966325f0ffffa3c9381f9e0422019a3973
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83fd7eca5ab0d3ac3f23bff889175d847e21af06
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cee8f286794df916553d8d445eac5c323ec5b0f8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9100191e5acb2e5ea2313f436667bb5fce129f47
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Sources
- CVE-2026-90002 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-90002 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-hxw4-9m57-prf4 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-90002 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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