CVE-2026-80984: net/smc: do not dereference an unset send buffer on the SMC-D teardown path

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: 2026-09-11 · updated 2026-10-19

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/smc: do not dereference an unset send buffer on the SMC-D teardown path smc_close_stream_wait() calls smc_tx_prepared_sends() from inside its sk_wait_event() condition, and sk_wait_event() evaluates that condition once with the socket lock released. smcd_buf_detach() clears conn->sndbuf_desc from smc_conn_kill() under lock_sock(), so a link group terminating while a socket waits there leaves the helper dereferencing NULL, faulting out of close(). SIOCOUTQ reads the field by hand, and smc_close_cancel_work() drops the lock across two cancel_*_sync() calls. Sample the pointer once in the helper, report nothing prepared while it is unset, and bound the ioctl the same way. The receive tasklet dereferences the field directly in smc_cdc_msg_recv_action(), not through this helper; 1/2 is what keeps it from running that late.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 6.6.66 before 6.6.157; 6.10 — fixed in 6.6.157, 7.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.6.157, 7.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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