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High · 7.8 CVE-2026-31703 EUVD-2026-26512GHSA-77jh-978m-wqhm

writeback: Fix use after free in inode_switch_wbs_work_fn()

Published May 1, 2026 · Updated Aug 20, 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-6.14 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-6.2 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-6.14 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-6.14 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-7.0 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm 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 Package: linux-nvidia-6.11 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-6.14 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-6.5 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 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-6.5 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:

writeback: Fix use after free in inode_switch_wbs_work_fn()

inode_switch_wbs_work_fn() has a loop like:

wb_get(new_wb);
while (1) {
list = llist_del_all(&new_wb->switch_wbs_ctxs);
/* Nothing to do? */
if (!list)
break;
... process the items ...
}

Now adding of items to the list looks like:

wb_queue_isw()
if (llist_add(&isw->list, &wb->switch_wbs_ctxs))
queue_work(isw_wq, &wb->switch_work);

Because inode_switch_wbs_work_fn() loops when processing isw items, it
can happen that wb->switch_work is pending while wb->switch_wbs_ctxs is
empty. This is a problem because in that case wb can get freed (no isw
items -> no wb reference) while the work is still pending causing
use-after-free issues.

We cannot just fix this by cancelling work when freeing wb because that
could still trigger problematic 0 -> 1 transitions on wb refcount due to
wb_get() in inode_switch_wbs_work_fn(). It could be all handled with
more careful code but that seems unnecessarily complex so let's avoid
that until it is proven that the looping actually brings practical
benefit. Just remove the loop from inode_switch_wbs_work_fn() instead.
That way when wb_queue_isw() queues work, we are guaranteed we have
added the first item to wb->switch_wbs_ctxs and nobody is going to
remove it (and drop the wb reference it holds) until the queued work
runs.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 6.18 6.18.25

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 7.0.3-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux 7.0.0-27.27 USN-8488-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-aws 7.0.0-1008.8 USN-8488-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure 7.0.0-1010.10 USN-8603-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gcp +1 7.0.0-1007.7 USN-8488-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-ibm +1 7.0.0-1009.9 USN-8603-1, USN-8488-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia 7.0.0-1013.13 USN-8507-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-raspi 7.0.0-1014.14 USN-8488-2
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-riscv +1 7.0.0-27.27.1 USN-8488-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-hwe-7.0 7.0.0-28.28~24.04.1 USN-8569-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +15 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 No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-64kb +6 6.4.0-150700.53.60.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2482-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-150700.53.60.1.150700.17.35.4 SUSE-SU-2026:2482-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-obs-build 6.4.0-150700.53.60.2 SUSE-SU-2026:2482-1
Show 7 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-64kb +8 6.12.0-160000.35.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22127-1
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.35.1.160000.2.16 SUSE-SU-2026:22127-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-64kb +8 6.12.0-160000.35.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22127-1, SUSE-SU-2026:22099-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.35.1.160000.2.16 SUSE-SU-2026:22127-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.35.1.160000.2.16 SUSE-SU-2026:22112-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-rt +5 6.12.0-160000.35.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22117-1, SUSE-SU-2026:22112-1
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-47.1.21.24 SUSE-SU-2026:22137-1
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-rt +1 6.4.0-48.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22458-1
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-source +2 6.4.0-47.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22137-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-47.1.21.24 SUSE-SU-2026:22108-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-rt +1 6.4.0-48.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22433-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-source +2 6.4.0-47.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22108-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-default 6.4.0-150700.53.60.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2482-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_16 1-150700.1.5.2 SUSE-SU-2026:2591-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_16 1-150700.15.3.2 SUSE-SU-2026:2482-1
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 kernel-rt +1 6.4.0-150700.7.59.2 SUSE-SU-2026:2591-1
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 kernel-syms-rt 6.4.0-150700.7.59.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2591-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Tumbleweed kernel-source 7.0.7-1.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:10793-1
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.35.1.160000.2.16 openSUSE-SU-2026:20965-1
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-rt +11 6.12.0-160000.35.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:20965-1

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 kernel-livepatch-6.18.25-55.108 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1693
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.18 +11 1:6.18.25-55.108.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1693

Advisories 19

References