CVE-2026-74735: l2tp: fix tunnel and session refcount leak on seq_file release

Severity: unknown
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: 2026-08-26 · updated 2026-10-30

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: l2tp: fix tunnel and session refcount leak on seq_file release In pppol2tp_proc_open() and l2tp_dfs_seq_open(), iteration state (pd->tunnel and pd->session) is kept in seq_file private data to allow iteration across multiple read() system calls. However, if userspace closes /proc/net/pppol2tp or /sys/kernel/debug/l2tp/tunnels before reading to end-of-file (EOF), any tunnel or session reference stored in pd->tunnel / pd->session is left un-dropped when seq_file private data is freed. Fix this by dropping any remaining pd->tunnel and pd->session references in pppol2tp_proc_release() and l2tp_dfs_seq_release() when closing the file.

Affected products

Linux: from 3.16.60 before 3.17; from 4.16.6 before 4.17 — fixed in 3.17, 4.17

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux 3.17, 4.17. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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