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Critical · 9.8 CVE-2026-72139 EUVD-2026-58897GHSA-vw9x-rc5g-h57c

tcp: defer md5sig_info kfree past RCU grace period in tcp_connect

Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 17, 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-aws-7.0 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-6.17 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-6.2 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-6.2 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-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-6.5 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-6.5 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:

tcp: defer md5sig_info kfree past RCU grace period in tcp_connect

The md5+ao reconciliation in tcp_connect() (net/ipv4/tcp_output.c)
has two symmetric branches:

if (needs_md5) {
tcp_ao_destroy_sock(sk, false);
} else if (needs_ao) {
tcp_clear_md5_list(sk);
kfree(rcu_replace_pointer(tp->md5sig_info, NULL, ...));
}

Both branches free a per-socket auth-info object while the socket is
in TCP_SYN_SENT and is already on the inet ehash (inserted by
inet_hash_connect() in tcp_v4_connect()). Both branches are reachable
by softirq RX-path readers that load the corresponding info pointer
via implicit RCU before bh_lock_sock_nested() is taken.

The needs_md5 branch is fixed in the prior patch by re-introducing
the call_rcu() free in tcp_ao_destroy_sock(): the equivalent per-key
loop runs inside tcp_ao_info_free_rcu(), the RCU callback, so by the
time it frees each tcp_ao_key all softirq readers that captured the
container have already completed rcu_read_unlock().

The needs_ao branch is not symmetric in the same way. The container
free can be deferred via kfree_rcu(md5sig, rcu) -- struct
tcp_md5sig_info already has the required rcu member
(include/net/tcp.h:1999-2002), and the rest of the tree already does
this in the tcp_md5sig_info_add() rollback paths
(net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:1410, 1436). But the per-key teardown is done
by tcp_clear_md5_list() in process context BEFORE the container's
RCU grace period: it walks &md5sig->head and frees each
tcp_md5sig_key with bare hlist_del + kfree. A concurrent softirq
reader in __tcp_md5_do_lookup() / __tcp_md5_do_lookup_exact()
(tcp_ipv4.c:1253, 1298) walks the same list via
hlist_for_each_entry_rcu() and races with that bare kfree on the
keys themselves -- a per-key slab use-after-free of the same class
as the TCP-AO bug, on the same race window.

Fix this in two halves:

1. Convert the bare kfree() in tcp_connect() to kfree_rcu() so the
md5sig_info container joins the rest of the md5sig lifecycle.
The local-variable lift is mechanical and required because
kfree_rcu() is a macro that expects an lvalue.

2. Make tcp_clear_md5_list() RCU-safe by replacing hlist_del +
kfree(key) with hlist_del_rcu + kfree_rcu(key, rcu). struct
tcp_md5sig_key already carries the rcu member
(include/net/tcp.h:1995) and tcp_md5_do_del()
(net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:1456) already uses kfree_rcu, so this
restores the lifecycle invariant the rest of the file follows
rather than introducing a one-off.

The other caller of tcp_clear_md5_list() is tcp_md5_destruct_sock()
(net/ipv4/tcp.c:412), which runs from the sock destructor when the
socket is already unhashed and unreachable; the extra grace period
there is unnecessary but harmless. Making the helper unconditionally
RCU-safe is the cleaner contract.

The needs_ao branch is not reachable by the userns reproducer used
to demonstrate the AO-side splat (the repro installs both keys but
ends up in the needs_md5 branch because the connect peer matches
the MD5 key, not the AO key); however the symmetric race exists
and a maintainer touching this code should not have to think about
which branch escapes RCU and which one does not.

[also credits to Qihang, who found that this races with tcp-diag]

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 6.18 6.18.40

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 7.1.5-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux 7.0.0-34.34 USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-aws +1 7.0.0-1013.13 USN-8816-2, USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure 7.0.0-1017.17 USN-8888-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 7.0.0-1016.16 USN-8888-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gke 7.0.0-1007.8 USN-8816-4
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-ibm +1 7.0.0-1014.14 USN-8816-2, USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia 7.0.0-1025.26 USN-9043-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia-bos 7.0.0-2022.23 USN-9003-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-oracle 7.0.0-1012.12 USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-raspi 7.0.0-1020.20 USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-riscv +1 7.0.0-34.34.1 USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws-7.0 +1 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1 USN-8816-2, USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-7.0 7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1 USN-8888-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-7.0 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1 USN-8888-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-hwe-7.0 7.0.0-34.34~24.04.1 USN-8816-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-7.0 7.0.0-1024.25~24.04.1 USN-9003-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle-7.0 7.0.0-1012.12~24.04.1 USN-8816-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +22 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv-7.0 7.0.0-34.34.1~24.04.1 —
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-6.18.41-94.142 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-2071
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.18 +12 1:6.18.41-94.142.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-2071

Advisories 10

References