CVE-2026-64541: net/smc: fix UAF in smc_cdc_rx_handler() by pinning the socket

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-07-27 · updated 2026-10-19
Weakness: CWE-416

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/smc: fix UAF in smc_cdc_rx_handler() by pinning the socket smc_cdc_rx_handler() looks up the connection by token under the link group's conns_lock, drops the lock, and then dereferences conn and the smc_sock derived from it, ending in sock_hold(&smc->sk) inside smc_cdc_msg_recv(). No reference is held across the lock release. The only reference pinning the socket while the connection is discoverable in the link group is taken in smc_lgr_register_conn() (sock_hold) and dropped in __smc_lgr_unregister_conn() (sock_put), both under conns_lock. Once the handler drops conns_lock, a concurrent close() -> smc_release() -> smc_conn_free() -> smc_lgr_unregister_conn() can drop that reference and free the smc_sock, so the handler's later sock_hold() runs on freed memory: WARNING: lib/refcount.c:25 at refcount_warn_saturate Workqueue: rxe_wq do_work refcount_warn_saturate (lib/refcount.c:25) smc_cdc_msg_recv (net/smc/smc_cdc.c:430) smc_cdc_rx_handler (net/smc/smc_cdc.c:502) smc_wr_rx_tasklet_fn (net/smc/smc_wr.c:445) tasklet_action_common (kernel/softirq.c:938) handle_softirqs (kernel/softirq.c:622) Kernel panic - not syncing: panic_on_warn set Only SMC-R is affected. The SMC-D receive tasklet is stopped by tasklet_kill(&conn->rx_tsklet) in smc_conn_free() before the connection is unregistered, so it cannot run concurrently with the free. Take the socket reference while still holding conns_lock, so the registration reference can no longer be the last one, and drop it once the handler is done.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 4.18 — fixed in 7.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 7.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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