Workqueue leak in Linux kernel RDS connection teardown
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: 1 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel from 7.0 leaks ordered workqueues during RDS connection teardown. When an RDS/TCP socket sends to a local address, the connection uses the loopback transport, but its path set is still sized for the TCP transport, so the extra workqueues lose their last pointers and are never destroyed. The leak repeats for every such connection on each network namespace teardown or module unload.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/rds: size a connection's path set by the transport it ends up with __rds_conn_create() computes npaths from the caller's transport before it decides whether a connection to one of the host's own addresses is to be handled by the loopback transport instead. That substitution is what an RDS/TCP socket sending to a local address gets, and after it the path init loop still runs for the TCP transport's RDS_MPATH_WORKERS paths and allocates an ordered workqueue for each, while rds_loop_conn_alloc() only ever provides transport data for path 0. rds_conn_destroy() sizes its teardown from c_trans, by then the loopback transport, so it visits path 0 only - and rds_conn_path_destroy() would skip the other paths anyway, since it returns before destroy_workqueue() for a path without transport data. kfree(c_path) then drops the last pointers to seven workqueues. That repeats for every such connection, on every netns teardown or module unload, and every distinct local destination address is a separate connection. Recompute npaths once the transport is final, so that creation and destruction agree on the set of paths. The c_path array stays sized for the caller's transport; the unused entries are freed with it.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Upgrade the Linux kernel to 7.2.9 or 7.3. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 is affected with no fix planned.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 7.2.9, 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 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
Not affected: 6 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- 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
- 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98560
- 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-7pw9-5jf8-r7cw
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-20 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98560 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98560 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-7pw9-5jf8-r7cw · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98560 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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