CVE-2026-97919: tracing: Take the reference before publishing the named histogram trigger

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: 2026-09-25 · updated 2026-10-21

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing: Take the reference before publishing the named histogram trigger event_hist_trigger_named_init() puts the trigger on the global named_triggers list and only then takes the reference on the trigger it shares its histogram with: data->ref++; save_named_trigger(data->named_data->name, data); ret = event_hist_trigger_init(data->named_data); if (ret < 0) { kfree(data->cmd_ops); data->cmd_ops = &trigger_hist_cmd; } return ret; event_hist_trigger_init() fails when alloc_hist_pad() cannot allocate, and nothing takes the trigger back off the list on the way out. event_hist_trigger_parse() frees it, and the next lookup by name reads the freed object: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in find_named_trigger+0xac/0xc0 Read of size 8 at addr ffff888009346860 by task init/1 find_named_trigger+0xac/0xc0 hist_register_trigger+0xc1/0xa00 event_hist_trigger_parse+0x3146/0x6af0 event_trigger_write+0xce/0x160 Freed by task 67: kfree+0x154/0x420 trigger_kthread_fn+0xfd/0x160 Do the reference first and publish once it has succeeded, so that nothing which can fail runs after the trigger becomes findable.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 6.6.94 before 6.6.160; from 6.12.34 before 6.12.112; from 6.15.3 before 6.16; 6.16 — fixed in 6.12.112, 6.16, 6.6.160, 7.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.12.112, 6.16, 6.6.160, 7.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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