net/sched: account classifier filter allocations to memcg
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
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 7 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/sched: account classifier filter allocations to memcg Allocations in the tc classifier *_change() paths (filter objects, per-CPU counters, and per-filter aux data) use plain GFP_KERNEL without __GFP_ACCOUNT, allowing unprivileged users to pin kernel memory outside memcg charging. The shared tcf_exts_init_ex() action array allocation in cls_api.c was also uncharged; this patch closes it along with the per-classifier filter-object/percpu/aux allocations that remain unaccounted. Add GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT to: - the shared tcf_exts_init_ex() action array (cls_api.c), common to every filter of every classifier (32 pointers, 256 bytes); - the filter-object, per-CPU-counter, and per-filter aux allocations in cls_basic, cls_bpf, cls_cgroup, cls_flow, cls_flower, cls_fw, cls_matchall, cls_route and cls_u32; - the u32_init_knode() replace-path knode allocation (cls_u32.c), which allocates the same struct tc_u_knode + sel.keys on every replace of an existing knode and was missed by the create-path-only conversion. Also fix the cls_basic error path: basic_change() inserts fnew into the IDR before allocating the per-CPU counter. If alloc_percpu() fails the errout path kfree'd fnew without idr_remove, leaving a dangling pointer in the IDR. With GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT the percpu alloc becomes failable on demand (memcg at memory.max), making the dead path attacker-reachable and burning the handle permanently. Add the idr_remove on the percpu failure path, matching the basic_set_parms failure-path pattern. Note: [email protected] provided a poc for basic_cls, but it was easy to extend to the other classifiers. Conditions to recreate the bug: - CONFIG_NET_SCHED, CONFIG_NET_CLS_* (the classifier being used), CONFIG_NET_CLS_ACT, CONFIG_MEMCG, CONFIG_USER_NS, CONFIG_NET_NS. - Unprivileged user in a fresh user+network namespace (unshare -Urn), or root with CAP_NET_ADMIN. - Create a large number of tc filters (e.g. tc filter add dev lo ingress ... <classifier> ...) while watching a memcg-limited cgroup: system slab grows far faster than memory.current, pinning kernel memory outside memcg charging.
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 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.57, 7.2.6, 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 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-90099
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-3537-p4vp-g252
- 2026-10-13 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-13 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-16 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@68fb30607169c92de57c5c82b6af8a733af1cc09 · CNA
- 2026-10-16 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/Linux@5fbb06d4f3d4c509ffe95572384a498bf319e5bf, Linux/[email protected], Linux/[email protected] +1 · CNA
- 2026-10-21 2 new references · CNA
- 2026-10-29 CVSS score changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@8a622d5b4d81c1572f42bbf3fb823b6e63d44dae · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
References
Other 6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8a622d5b4d81c1572f42bbf3fb823b6e63d44dae
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5fbb06d4f3d4c509ffe95572384a498bf319e5bf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf6006cea193cf065f7a64fc7974247f8112af33
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/68fb30607169c92de57c5c82b6af8a733af1cc09
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/18c68c8f3d3ff0a4def1391021b439c4333a6c71
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1beb81947eb486716af80db7a584f9e9fef7e003
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Sources
- CVE-2026-90099 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-90099 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-3537-p4vp-g252 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-90099 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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