CVE-2026-22995: ublk: fix use-after-free in ublk_partition_scan_work

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-01-23 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-416

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ublk: fix use-after-free in ublk_partition_scan_work A race condition exists between the async partition scan work and device teardown that can lead to a use-after-free of ub->ub_disk: 1. ublk_ctrl_start_dev() schedules partition_scan_work after add_disk() 2. ublk_stop_dev() calls ublk_stop_dev_unlocked() which does: - del_gendisk(ub->ub_disk) - ublk_detach_disk() sets ub->ub_disk = NULL - put_disk() which may free the disk 3. The worker ublk_partition_scan_work() then dereferences ub->ub_disk leading to UAF Fix this by using ublk_get_disk()/ublk_put_disk() in the worker to hold a reference to the disk during the partition scan. The spinlock in ublk_get_disk() synchronizes with ublk_detach_disk() ensuring the worker either gets a valid reference or sees NULL and exits early. Also change flush_work() to cancel_work_sync() to avoid running the partition scan work unnecessarily when the disk is already detached.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 6.18.4 before 6.18.6; 6.19-rc4 — fixed in 6.18.6

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.18.6. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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