Race condition in Linux kernel gpio mpsse IRQ poll worker causes use-after-free
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
The Linux kernel gpio mpsse driver from 6.18.6 before 6.18.57 and from 6.19 has a race condition when arming the IRQ poll worker. The worker is scheduled before it is added to the list that disconnect walks, so disconnect can miss it and the worker can access freed memory. A local user with low privileges can trigger a use-after-free, which can affect confidentiality, integrity and availability.
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: gpio: mpsse: fix race when arming the IRQ poll worker gpio_mpsse_irq_enable() arms the poll worker before publishing it: schedule_work() runs before the worker is added to priv->workers. If gpio_mpsse_disconnect() walks the list in that window it misses the worker, and once disconnect returns, the USB core frees mpsse_priv while the orphaned gpio_mpsse_poll() work keeps accessing it, causing a use-after-free. Fix this by publishing and arming the worker in one irq_spin critical section. Teardown walks the same list under irq_spin, so a worker found on the list is guaranteed to be armed, and cancel_work_sync() handles it whether it is queued or running. A worker armed after the disconnect walk would still be missed, so also set a new priv->dying flag under irq_spin before the teardown walk, and check it in the same critical section, freeing it via kfree_rcu() instead when the device is going away, since kfree() would be called with the IRQ core's raw spinlock held and may sleep on PREEMPT_RT. schedule_work() is safe to call with irq_spin held, and the next probe gets a fresh mpsse_priv, so the flag never needs to be cleared. This issue was found by an in-house static analysis tool.
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 6.18.57, 7.2.11 or 7.3.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.18.57
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.18.57, 7.2.11, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 7 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- 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
- 2026-10-23 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-99050
- 2026-10-23 Alias added: GHSA-77g9-3gmv-7p3q
- 2026-10-24 CVSS score added · CNA
- 2026-10-24 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
- 2026-10-24 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-27 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-27 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
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Sources
- CVE-2026-99050 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-99050 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-77g9-3gmv-7p3q · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-99050 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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