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High · 7.8 CVE-2026-23192 EUVD-2026-5851GHSA-7g8g-mvq9-46w7

linkwatch: use __dev_put() in callers to prevent UAF

Published Feb 14, 2026 · Updated Aug 5, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux Package: linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.17 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.17 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.17 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.17 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.11 Package: linux-nvidia-6.17 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.11 Package: linux-oem-6.17 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oem-6.8 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.14 Package: linux-oracle-6.17 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-realtime-6.17 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.14 Package: linux-riscv-6.17 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

linkwatch: use __dev_put() in callers to prevent UAF

After linkwatch_do_dev() calls __dev_put() to release the linkwatch
reference, the device refcount may drop to 1. At this point,
netdev_run_todo() can proceed (since linkwatch_sync_dev() sees an
empty list and returns without blocking), wait for the refcount to
become 1 via netdev_wait_allrefs_any(), and then free the device
via kobject_put().

This creates a use-after-free when __linkwatch_run_queue() tries to
call netdev_unlock_ops() on the already-freed device.

Note that adding netdev_lock_ops()/netdev_unlock_ops() pair in
netdev_run_todo() before kobject_put() would not work, because
netdev_lock_ops() is conditional - it only locks when
netdev_need_ops_lock() returns true. If the device doesn't require
ops_lock, linkwatch won't hold any lock, and netdev_run_todo()
acquiring the lock won't provide synchronization.

Fix this by moving __dev_put() from linkwatch_do_dev() to its
callers. The device reference logically pairs with de-listing the
device, so it's reasonable for the caller that did the de-listing
to release it. This allows placing __dev_put() after all device
accesses are complete, preventing UAF.

The bug can be reproduced by adding mdelay(2000) after
linkwatch_do_dev() in __linkwatch_run_queue(), then running:

ip tuntap add mode tun name tun_test
ip link set tun_test up
ip link set tun_test carrier off
ip link set tun_test carrier on
sleep 0.5
ip tuntap del mode tun name tun_test

KASAN report:

==================================================================
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in netdev_need_ops_lock include/net/netdev_lock.h:33 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in netdev_unlock_ops include/net/netdev_lock.h:47 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __linkwatch_run_queue+0x865/0x8a0 net/core/link_watch.c:245
Read of size 8 at addr ffff88804de5c008 by task kworker/u32:10/8123

CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 8123 Comm: kworker/u32:10 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full)
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014
Workqueue: events_unbound linkwatch_event
Call Trace:
<TASK>
__dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline]
dump_stack_lvl+0x100/0x190 lib/dump_stack.c:120
print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline]
print_report+0x156/0x4c9 mm/kasan/report.c:482
kasan_report+0xdf/0x1a0 mm/kasan/report.c:595
netdev_need_ops_lock include/net/netdev_lock.h:33 [inline]
netdev_unlock_ops include/net/netdev_lock.h:47 [inline]
__linkwatch_run_queue+0x865/0x8a0 net/core/link_watch.c:245
linkwatch_event+0x8f/0xc0 net/core/link_watch.c:304
process_one_work+0x9c2/0x1840 kernel/workqueue.c:3257
process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3340 [inline]
worker_thread+0x5da/0xe40 kernel/workqueue.c:3421
kthread+0x3b3/0x730 kernel/kthread.c:463
ret_from_fork+0x754/0xaf0 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158
ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:246
</TASK>
==================================================================

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 6.15 6.18.10

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 6.18.10-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 25.10 linux +8 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +19 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +32 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 +1 No fix yet —

Advisories 1

References