CVE-2026-72110: bpf,fork: wipe ->bpf_storage before bailouts that access it

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 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: 2026-08-15 · updated 2026-10-16

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf,fork: wipe ->bpf_storage before bailouts that access it Currently, copy_process() can bail out to free_task() before p->bpf_storage has been initialized, with this call graph (shown here for the !CONFIG_MEMCG case): copy_process dup_task_struct arch_dup_task_struct [copies the entire task_struct, including ->bpf_storage member] [RLIMIT_NPROC check fails] delayed_free_task free_task bpf_task_storage_free rcu_dereference(task->bpf_storage) bpf_local_storage_destroy In this case, the nascent task's ->bpf_storage member that bpf_local_storage_destroy() operates on is a plain copy of the parent's ->bpf_storage pointer, not a real initialized pointer. This leads to badness (kernel hangs, UAF). This is reachable as long as the process calling fork() has been inserted into a task storage map.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 5.13 — 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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