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High · 7.8 CVE-2026-64044 EUVD-2026-45617GHSA-52jg-m8r4-36g9

ovpn: respect peer refcount in CMD_NEW_PEER error path

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:

ovpn: respect peer refcount in CMD_NEW_PEER error path

ovpn_nl_peer_new_doit()'s error path calls ovpn_peer_release() directly
rather than ovpn_peer_put(), bypassing the kref. The accompanying
comment ("peer was not yet hashed, thus it is not used in any context")
holds for UDP but not for TCP.

For UDP, the ovpn_socket union uses the .ovpn arm and never points back
at a peer; UDP encap_recv looks up peers via the not-yet-populated
hashtables, so the new peer is unreachable until ovpn_peer_add()
publishes it.

For TCP, ovpn_socket_new() sets ovpn_sock->peer and
ovpn_tcp_socket_attach() publishes ovpn_sock via rcu_assign_sk_user_data().
From that moment until ovpn_socket_release() detaches in the error path,
the TCP fd is fully wired: userspace recvmsg / sendmsg / close / poll
on the fd, as well as the strparser-driven ovpn_tcp_rcv() path, can
reach the peer through sk_user_data -> ovpn_sock->peer and bump its
refcount via ovpn_peer_hold().

ovpn_tcp_socket_wait_finish() (called inside ovpn_socket_release())
drains strparser and the tx work, but does not synchronize with
userspace syscall callers that already hold a peer reference. If
ovpn_nl_peer_modify() or ovpn_peer_add() returns an error while such
a caller is in flight - notably an ovpn_tcp_recvmsg() blocked in
__skb_recv_datagram() on peer->tcp.user_queue - the direct
ovpn_peer_release() destroys the peer while the caller still holds
the reference, and the eventual ovpn_peer_put() from that caller
operates on freed memory.

Replace the direct destructor call with ovpn_peer_put() so the kref
correctly defers destruction until the last reference is dropped.
In the common case where no concurrent user is present, behaviour is
unchanged: the kref hits zero immediately and ovpn_peer_release_kref()
runs the same destructor.

With this conversion ovpn_peer_release() has no callers outside peer.c
- ovpn_peer_release_kref() in the same translation unit is the only
remaining user - so make it static and drop its declaration from
peer.h.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 6.16 6.18.34

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 —
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 —

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 kernel-livepatch-6.18.35-68.127 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1881
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.18 +12 1:6.18.35-68.127.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-1881

Advisories 10

References