CVE-2026-64426: io_uring/nop: fix file reference leak with IOSQE_FIXED_FILE

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-07-25 · updated 2026-09-04

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring/nop: fix file reference leak with IOSQE_FIXED_FILE NOP file-acquisition support choses between a fixed (registered) file and a normal fget()'d file based on its own IORING_NOP_FIXED_FILE flag in sqe->nop_flags. However, a request's REQ_F_FIXED_FILE is set independently from the generic IOSQE_FIXED_FILE sqe flag during request init, before the issue handler runs. If a NOP is submitted with IOSQE_FIXED_FILE set (so REQ_F_FIXED_FILE is set) but without IORING_NOP_FIXED_FILE, io_nop() takes the normal path and grabs a real reference via io_file_get_normal(). On completion, io_put_file() only drops the reference when REQ_F_FIXED_FILE is clear, so the fget()'d file is never released and leaks: BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff88800f42c240 (size 176): kmem_cache_alloc_noprof+0x358/0x440 alloc_empty_file+0x57/0x180 path_openat+0x44/0x1e50 do_file_open+0x121/0x200 do_sys_openat2+0xa7/0x150 __x64_sys_openat+0x82/0xf0 Decide between fixed and normal file acquisition from REQ_F_FIXED_FILE, the same way io_assign_file() does for every other opcode, and fold IORING_NOP_FIXED_FILE into REQ_F_FIXED_FILE at prep time.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 6.13 before 6.18.39; from 6.19 before 7.1.4 — fixed in 6.18.39, 7.1.4

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.18.39, 7.1.4. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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