Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: watchdog: fix refcount tracking races
Blamed commit converted the untracked dev_hold()/dev_put() calls
in the watchdog code to use the tracked dev_hold_track()/dev_put_track()
(which were later renamed/interfaced to netdev_hold() and netdev_put()).
By introducing dev->watchdog_dev_tracker to store the
reference tracking information without adding synchronization
between netdev_watchdog_up() and dev_watchdog(), it enabled the
race condition where this pointer could be overwritten or freed
concurrently, leading to the list corruption crash syzbot reported:
list_del corruption, ffff888114a18c00->next is NULL
kernel BUG at lib/list_debug.c:52 !
Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN PTI
CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 91 Comm: kworker/u8:5 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(lazy)
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/09/2026
Workqueue: events_unbound linkwatch_event
RIP: 0010:__list_del_entry_valid_or_report.cold+0x22/0x2a lib/list_debug.c:52
Call Trace:
<TASK>
__list_del_entry_valid include/linux/list.h:132 [inline]
__list_del_entry include/linux/list.h:246 [inline]
list_move_tail include/linux/list.h:341 [inline]
ref_tracker_free+0x1a7/0x6c0 lib/ref_tracker.c:329
netdev_tracker_free include/linux/netdevice.h:4491 [inline]
netdev_put include/linux/netdevice.h:4508 [inline]
netdev_put include/linux/netdevice.h:4504 [inline]
netdev_watchdog_down net/sched/sch_generic.c:600 [inline]
dev_deactivate_many+0x28c/0xfe0 net/sched/sch_generic.c:1363
dev_deactivate+0x109/0x1d0 net/sched/sch_generic.c:1397
linkwatch_do_dev net/core/link_watch.c:184 [inline]
linkwatch_do_dev+0xd3/0x120 net/core/link_watch.c:166
__linkwatch_run_queue+0x3a5/0x810 net/core/link_watch.c:240
linkwatch_event+0x8f/0xc0 net/core/link_watch.c:314
process_one_work+0xa0e/0x1980 kernel/workqueue.c:3314
process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3397 [inline]
worker_thread+0x5ef/0xe50 kernel/workqueue.c:3478
kthread+0x370/0x450 kernel/kthread.c:436
ret_from_fork+0x69a/0xc80 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158
ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245
This patch has three coordinated parts:
1) Add dev->watchdog_lock and dev->watchdog_ref_held to serialize watchdog operations.
2) Remove netdev_watchdog_up() call from netif_carrier_on():
This ensures netdev_watchdog_up() is only called from process/BH context
(via linkwatch workqueue dev_activate()), allowing us to use
spin_lock_bh() for synchronization.
3) Synchronize watchdog up and watchdog timer:
Protect netdev_watchdog_up() with tx_global_lock and watchdog_lock.
Only allocate a new tracker in netdev_watchdog_up() if one is
not already present.
In dev_watchdog(), ensure we don't release the tracker if the
timer was rescheduled either by dev_watchdog() itself or concurrently
by netdev_watchdog_up().
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.17 | 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.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | linux | 7.1.5-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 6.12.115-2 | — |
| Debian 12 | linux | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS | linux-bluefield | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux | 7.0.0-38.38 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-aws +1 | 7.0.0-1014.14 | USN-8887-1 |
| 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 | 7.0.0-1008.9 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-ibm +1 | 7.0.0-1015.15 | USN-8889-1, USN-8887-1 |
| 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 | 7.0.0-1013.13 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-raspi | 7.0.0-1023.23 | USN-9021-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-riscv +1 | 7.0.0-38.38.1 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux +43 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-aws-7.0 +1 | 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1 | USN-8887-3, USN-8887-2 |
| 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 | 7.0.0-38.38~24.04.4 | USN-8887-3 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-7.0 | 7.0.0-1024.25~24.04.1 | USN-9003-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-tegra | 6.8.0-1035.38 | USN-8781-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-oracle-7.0 | 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1 | USN-8887-3 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-riscv-7.0 | 7.0.0-38.38.1~24.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-riscv +42 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-gke +28 | No fix yet | — |
Show 5 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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-realtime +3 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS | linux-realtime-6.8 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS | linux-fips +3 | No fix yet | — |
Amazon Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2023 | kernel-livepatch-6.18.41-94.142 +1 | 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2026-3402, ALAS2023-2026-2071 |
| Amazon Linux 2023 | perf6.12 +11 | 1:6.12.114-139.210.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2026-3402 |
| Amazon Linux 2023 | perf6.18 +12 | 1:6.18.41-94.142.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2026-2071 |
Azure Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Linux 3 | kernel | 6.6.161.1-1 | — |
Advisories 13
- USN-9021-1 linux-raspi vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- WID-SEC-2026-2852 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-9043-1 linux-nvidia vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8887-1 linux, linux-aws, linux-gcp, linux-gke, linux-ibm, linux-oracle, linux-realtime vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-9003-1 linux-nvidia-7.0, linux-nvidia-bos vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8887-3 linux-gcp-7.0, linux-hwe-7.0, linux-oracle-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8888-2 linux-azure-7.0, linux-azure-fde-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8888-1 linux-azure, linux-azure-fde vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8887-2 linux-aws-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8889-1 linux-oem-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- ALAS2023-2026-3402 Important: kernel6.12 security update (Amazon Linux 2023) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Nov 11, 2026
- USN-8781-1 linux-nvidia-tegra vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 9, 2026
- ALAS2023-2026-2071 Important: kernel6.18 security update (Amazon Linux 2023) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Sep 15, 2026
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fbb8e79c117adcbfafef33b81d0db853b461bdac
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2fc2c92320272a99e18bbb102252859b6ee50881
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6b2330facc90e43b6d7171a0ac12c23dfcbdc30d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/446fe8ce699ce0a4d702f7b0fcdb50de340b9260
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ce2b00ff058ec4cafc9b447e1f0a6d6f49275d9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8eed5519e496b7a07f441a0f579cb228a33189f7