Skip to content
OpenAdvisories
Unscored CVE-2026-43167 EUVD-2026-27728GHSA-2fm8-9qc5-4mqx

xfrm: always flush state and policy upon NETDEV_UNREGISTER event

Published May 6, 2026 · Updated Nov 6, 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-5.15 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.4 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.14 Package: linux-aws-6.17 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-aws-6.8 Package: linux-aws-fips Package: linux-aws-hwe Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-4.15 Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.15 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.4 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.14 Package: linux-azure-6.17 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-6.8 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.15 Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.14 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.8 Package: linux-azure-fips Package: linux-azure-nvidia Package: linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 Package: linux-bluefield Package: linux-fips Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-4.15 Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.15 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.4 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.14 Package: linux-gcp-6.17 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gcp-6.8 Package: linux-gcp-fips 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-5.15 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.4 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.14 Package: linux-hwe-6.17 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm Package: linux-ibm-5.15 Package: linux-ibm-5.4 Package: linux-ibm-6.8 Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-intel-iotg Package: linux-intel-iotg-5.15 Package: linux-iot Package: linux-kvm Package: linux-lowlatency Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 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-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia Package: linux-nvidia-6.11 Package: linux-nvidia-6.17 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia-lowlatency Package: linux-nvidia-tegra Package: linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 Package: linux-nvidia-tegra-igx 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-6.17 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-5.15 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.4 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.14 Package: linux-oracle-6.17 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-oracle-6.8 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-5.4 Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-realtime-6.17 Package: linux-realtime-6.8 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.15 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-riscv-6.8 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Package: linux-xilinx Package: linux-xilinx-zynqmp Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

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

xfrm: always flush state and policy upon NETDEV_UNREGISTER event

syzbot is reporting that "struct xfrm_state" refcount is leaking.

unregister_netdevice: waiting for netdevsim0 to become free. Usage count = 2
ref_tracker: netdev@ffff888052f24618 has 1/1 users at
__netdev_tracker_alloc include/linux/netdevice.h:4400 [inline]
netdev_tracker_alloc include/linux/netdevice.h:4412 [inline]
xfrm_dev_state_add+0x3a5/0x1080 net/xfrm/xfrm_device.c:316
xfrm_state_construct net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c:986 [inline]
xfrm_add_sa+0x34ff/0x5fa0 net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c:1022
xfrm_user_rcv_msg+0x58e/0xc00 net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c:3507
netlink_rcv_skb+0x158/0x420 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2550
xfrm_netlink_rcv+0x71/0x90 net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c:3529
netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1318 [inline]
netlink_unicast+0x5aa/0x870 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1344
netlink_sendmsg+0x8c8/0xdd0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1894
sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:727 [inline]
__sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:742 [inline]
____sys_sendmsg+0xa5d/0xc30 net/socket.c:2592
___sys_sendmsg+0x134/0x1d0 net/socket.c:2646
__sys_sendmsg+0x16d/0x220 net/socket.c:2678
do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline]
do_syscall_64+0xcd/0xf80 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

This is because commit d77e38e612a0 ("xfrm: Add an IPsec hardware
offloading API") implemented xfrm_dev_unregister() as no-op despite
xfrm_dev_state_add() from xfrm_state_construct() acquires a reference
to "struct net_device".
I guess that that commit expected that NETDEV_DOWN event is fired before
NETDEV_UNREGISTER event fires, and also assumed that xfrm_dev_state_add()
is called only if (dev->features & NETIF_F_HW_ESP) != 0.

Sabrina Dubroca identified steps to reproduce the same symptoms as below.

echo 0 > /sys/bus/netdevsim/new_device
dev=$(ls -1 /sys/bus/netdevsim/devices/netdevsim0/net/)
ip xfrm state add src 192.168.13.1 dst 192.168.13.2 proto esp \
spi 0x1000 mode tunnel aead 'rfc4106(gcm(aes))' $key 128 \
offload crypto dev $dev dir out
ethtool -K $dev esp-hw-offload off
echo 0 > /sys/bus/netdevsim/del_device

Like these steps indicate, the NETIF_F_HW_ESP bit can be cleared after
xfrm_dev_state_add() acquired a reference to "struct net_device".
Also, xfrm_dev_state_add() does not check for the NETIF_F_HW_ESP bit
when acquiring a reference to "struct net_device".

Commit 03891f820c21 ("xfrm: handle NETDEV_UNREGISTER for xfrm device")
re-introduced the NETDEV_UNREGISTER event to xfrm_dev_event(), but that
commit for unknown reason chose to share xfrm_dev_down() between the
NETDEV_DOWN event and the NETDEV_UNREGISTER event.
I guess that that commit missed the behavior in the previous paragraph.

Therefore, we need to re-introduce xfrm_dev_unregister() in order to
release the reference to "struct net_device" by unconditionally flushing
state and policy.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 4.12 6.1.191

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 6.19.6-1 —
Debian 13 linux 6.12.85-1 —
Debian 12 linux No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS linux-bluefield 6.8.0-1026.30 —
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 22.04 LTS linux-bluefield No fix yet —
Ubuntu 25.10 linux +8 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux 6.8.0-134.134 USN-8492-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws 6.8.0-1060.63 USN-8492-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure 6.8.0-1063.71 USN-8606-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 6.8.0-1062.69 USN-8607-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-nvidia 6.8.0-1039.42 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp 6.8.0-1063.69 USN-8492-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gke 6.8.0-1058.64 USN-8492-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gkeop 6.8.0-1045.48 USN-8492-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-ibm 6.8.0-1060.61 USN-8492-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-lowlatency 6.8.0-134.134.1 USN-8497-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia 6.8.0-1058.61 USN-8492-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 6.8.0-1058.61.1 USN-8492-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 6.8.0-1029.30 USN-8498-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle 6.8.0-1057.58 USN-8492-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-raspi 6.8.0-1060.64 USN-8492-4
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +26 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-xilinx 6.8.0-1032.33 USN-8499-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux +49 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws-6.8 6.8.0-1060.63~22.04.1 USN-8492-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-6.8 6.8.0-1063.71~22.04.1 USN-8606-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-6.8 6.8.0-1062.69~22.04.1 USN-8609-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp-6.8 6.8.0-1063.69~22.04.1 USN-8492-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-136.136~22.04.1 USN-8619-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm-6.8 6.8.0-1060.61~22.04.1 USN-8492-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-134.134.1~22.04.1 USN-8497-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 6.8.0-1058.61~22.04.1 USN-8492-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle-6.8 6.8.0-1057.58~22.04.1 USN-8492-2
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv-6.8 6.8.0-134.134~22.04.1 —
Show 16 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-raspi-realtime 6.8.0-2049.50 USN-8492-3
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime 6.8.1-1055.56 USN-8492-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.8 6.8.1-1055.56~22.04.1 USN-8492-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS 20.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS 18.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 6.8.0-1060.63+fips1 USN-8492-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fips 6.8.0-1062.69+fips1 USN-8492-5
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-fips 6.8.0-134.134+fips1 USN-8492-5
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips 6.8.0-1063.69+fips1 USN-8492-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 20.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 18.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-preview 22.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux +21 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS linux +12 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS linux-gcp +4 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS linux-azure No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-64kb +4 6.4.0-150700.53.73.2 SUSE-SU-2026:3166-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-150700.53.73.2.150700.17.41.4 SUSE-SU-2026:3166-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-docs +2 6.4.0-150700.53.73.1 SUSE-SU-2026:3166-1
Show 7 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-64kb +8 6.12.0-160000.36.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22835-1
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.36.1.160000.2.17 SUSE-SU-2026:22835-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-64kb +8 6.12.0-160000.36.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22835-1, SUSE-SU-2026:22812-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.36.1.160000.2.17 SUSE-SU-2026:22835-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.36.1.160000.2.17 SUSE-SU-2026:22769-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-rt +5 6.12.0-160000.36.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22769-1, SUSE-SU-2026:22742-1
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-rt +2 6.4.0-50.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22904-1, SUSE-SU-2026:22903-1
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-source +1 6.4.0-50.2 SUSE-SU-2026:22904-1, SUSE-SU-2026:22903-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-rt +2 6.4.0-50.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22810-1, SUSE-SU-2026:22809-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-source +1 6.4.0-50.2 SUSE-SU-2026:22810-1, SUSE-SU-2026:22809-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-default 6.4.0-150700.53.73.2 SUSE-SU-2026:3166-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_18 1-150700.1.5.1 SUSE-SU-2026:3130-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_19 1-150700.15.3.4 SUSE-SU-2026:3166-1
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 kernel-rt +2 6.4.0-150700.7.67.1 SUSE-SU-2026:3130-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.36.1.160000.2.17 openSUSE-SU-2026:21388-1
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-rt +11 6.12.0-160000.36.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:21388-1

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 kernel-livepatch-6.12.77-99.140 +1 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1702, ALAS2023-2026-1543
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.12 +14 1:6.12.77-99.140.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1543
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.18 +14 1:6.18.16-18.222.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1702

Oracle Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Oracle Linux 9 kernel-uek +34 6.12.0-204.92.4.2.el10uek ELSA-2026-50372

Advisories 27

References