CVE-2026-89545: sunrpc: defer rq_argp and rq_resp free until after RCU grace period

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: 2026-09-11 · updated 2026-10-30

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sunrpc: defer rq_argp and rq_resp free until after RCU grace period svc_rqst_free() frees rqstp->rq_argp and rqstp->rq_resp synchronously via kfree(), but defers the rqstp struct free via kfree_rcu(). After svc_exit_thread() calls list_del_rcu() and svc_rqst_free(), there is a window where RCU readers that started before list_del_rcu() can still traverse the thread list and find the rqstp. These readers (e.g. nfsd_nl_rpc_status_get_dumpit()) dereference rqstp->rq_argp, which has already been freed — a use-after-free. Fix this by moving the kfree of rq_argp and rq_resp into an explicit call_rcu() callback alongside the struct free. Resources not accessed by RCU readers (bvec, buffer pages, scratch folio, auth_data) remain synchronously freed.

Affected products

Linux: 3.19 — fixed in 7.3

How to fix

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

References

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