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High · 7.8 CVE-2026-63918 EUVD-2026-45691GHSA-9qwr-gw6x-fmgj

l2tp: use refcount_inc_not_zero in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname

Published Jul 19, 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-6.14 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-6.14 Package: linux-azure-6.17 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-7.0 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.14 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fde-7.0 Package: linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 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-6.17 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gcp-7.0 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-6.17 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-6.17 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-7.0 Package: linux-nvidia-bos 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-oem-7.0 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-oracle-7.0 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-riscv-7.0 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:

l2tp: use refcount_inc_not_zero in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname

A reader in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname() can return a pointer to a
session whose refcount has reached zero. The getter takes its
reference with plain refcount_inc(), but every other session getter
in the same file (l2tp_v2_session_get, l2tp_v3_session_get, and the
corresponding _get_next variants) uses refcount_inc_not_zero()
because the IDR/RCU lookup can race with refcount_dec_and_test() ->
l2tp_session_free() -> kfree_rcu(). The ifname getter is the only
outlier; the inconsistency was raised on-list after 979c017803c4
("l2tp: use list_del_rcu in l2tp_session_unhash").

A reader inside rcu_read_lock_bh() that matches session->ifname can
be preempted between the strcmp() and the refcount_inc(). If the
last reference drops on another CPU in that window, the reader's
refcount_inc() runs on a counter that has reached zero. refcount_t
catches the addition-on-zero, prints "refcount_t: addition on 0;
use-after-free", saturates the counter, and returns the saturated
pointer to the caller. Session memory is held live by the in-flight
RCU read section, but the kfree_rcu() callback queued from
l2tp_session_free() will free it once the grace period closes; a
caller that dereferences the returned session past that point hits
a slab-use-after-free. On PREEMPT_RT local_bh_disable() is a per-CPU
sleeping lock and the preemption window is real; on stock PREEMPT
kernels local_bh_disable() is a preempt_count increment that closes
the cross-CPU race in practice (see below).

Use refcount_inc_not_zero() and continue the list walk on failure,
matching the other session getters in the file. The ifname getter
is the only session getter in net/l2tp/ that still uses the bare
refcount_inc() pattern; this change restores file-internal
consistency. The success path is unchanged.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 6.12 6.12.93

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 7.0.12-1 —
Debian 13 linux 6.12.94-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux 7.0.0-28.28 —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-aws +2 7.0.0-1009.9 USN-8618-1, USN-8603-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gcp +1 7.0.0-1008.8 USN-8593-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gke 7.0.0-1003.4 —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-ibm +1 7.0.0-1010.10 USN-8603-1, USN-8593-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia 7.0.0-1016.16 USN-8663-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia-bos 7.0.0-2016.16 USN-8664-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-raspi 7.0.0-1015.15 USN-8618-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-riscv +1 7.0.0-28.28.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-7.0 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1 USN-8728-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-7.0 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-7.0 +1 7.0.0-1011.11~24.04.1 USN-8728-3, USN-8728-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-hwe-7.0 7.0.0-28.28~24.04.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-7.0 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1 USN-8663-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +26 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv-7.0 7.0.0-28.28.1~24.04.3 —
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 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
RHEL 10 rv +77 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2 RHSA-2026:76738
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Red Hat Shadow Migration Toolkit 10 kernel-modules-internal 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2 RHSA-2026:76738

AlmaLinux

Errata ↗
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
AlmaLinux 10 rv +74 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2 ALSA-2026:76738
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-64kb +8 6.12.0-160000.38.1 SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.23 SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-64kb +8 6.12.0-160000.38.1 SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1, SUSE-SU-2026:23897-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.23 SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.23 SUSE-SU-2026:23887-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-rt +5 6.12.0-160000.38.1 SUSE-SU-2026:23887-1, SUSE-SU-2026:23881-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.22 openSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-rt +11 6.12.0-160000.38.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1

Oracle Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Oracle Linux 10 rv +29 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2 ELSA-2026-76738
Oracle Linux 9 kernel-uek +34 6.12.0-206.104.3.3.el10uek ELSA-2026-500248

Advisories 18

References