Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
netlink: do not free nlk->groups while lockless readers can use it
netlink_realloc_groups() uses krealloc() under netlink_table_grab().
Whenever NLGRPSZ(groups) lands in a different kmalloc bucket, the old
bitmap is freed immediately.
Two readers of nlk->groups / nlk->ngroups do not hold the netlink
table lock:
1) sk_diag_dump_groups(). Hashed (bound) sockets are dumped from the
rhashtable walk in __netlink_diag_dump(), which only holds RCU.
Only the mc_list part of the dump takes nl_table_lock.
2) netlink_native_seq_show() (/proc/net/netlink), whose walk has been
lockless since commit 21e4902aea80 ("netlink: Lockless lookup with
RCU grace period in socket release").
Both can read a freed buffer, and sk_diag_dump_groups() can also read
past the end of the old (smaller) buffer if it happens to load the old
@groups pointer together with the new @ngroups value, copying the
result into a NETLINK_DIAG_GROUPS attribute.
This is the same class of bug that commit f773608026ee ("netlink:
access nlk groups safely in netlink bind and getname") fixed for bind()
and getname(); these two readers were missed. Simply grabbing the table
lock in sk_diag_dump_groups() is not an option, because it is also
called with nl_table_lock already held from the mc_list section of the
dump.
Make the lockless readers safe instead:
- Allocate a new bitmap and free the old one after an RCU grace period,
instead of relying on the implicit kfree() done by krealloc().
- Publish @groups before @ngroups, both with release semantics, and have
the lockless readers load @ngroups first. A reader can then never pair
the new (bigger) size with the old (smaller) buffer, and a reader
picking up the new pointer while still seeing the old size is
guaranteed to see the initialized bitmap.
netlink_realloc_groups() is called from process context (bind() and
setsockopt()), so kfree_rcu_mightsleep() can be used, once the table
has been released.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 4.0 | 7.2.8 |
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 | 7.2.8-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | No fix yet | — |
| 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 Nvidia-BlueField 22.04 LTS | linux-bluefield | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux | 7.0.0-42.42 | USN-8959-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-aws | 7.0.0-1016.17 | USN-8959-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-azure | 7.0.0-1020.21 | USN-9019-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-azure-fde | 7.0.0-1019.19 | USN-9020-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-gcp | 7.0.0-1016.18 | USN-8959-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-gke | 7.0.0-1010.11 | USN-9020-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-ibm +1 | 7.0.0-1017.17 | USN-8960-1, USN-8959-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-nvidia +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-oracle | 7.0.0-1015.16 | USN-8959-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-raspi | 7.0.0-1023.23 | USN-9021-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-realtime | 7.0.0-43.43.1 | USN-9020-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-riscv | 7.0.0-42.42.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux +46 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-aws-7.0 | 7.0.0-1017.18~24.04.1 | USN-9020-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-azure-fde-7.0 | 7.0.0-1019.19~24.04.1 | USN-9020-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-gcp-7.0 | 7.0.0-1017.19~24.04.1 | USN-9020-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-hwe-7.0 | 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1 | USN-8959-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-oracle-7.0 | 7.0.0-1016.18~24.04.1 | USN-9020-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-riscv-7.0 | 7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux +59 | No fix yet | — |
Show 18 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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-realtime +3 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS | linux-realtime +2 | No fix yet | — |
| 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 16.04 LTS | linux-fips | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS | linux-fips +3 | No fix yet | — |
| 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-updates 16.04 LTS | linux-fips | 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 +7 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | linux-aws +2 | No fix yet | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | kernel-source | 7.2.10-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:12131-1 |
Azure Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Linux 3 | kernel | No fix yet | — |
Advisories 7
- USN-9021-1 linux-raspi vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- WID-SEC-2026-3743 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-9020-1 linux-aws-7.0, linux-azure-fde, linux-azure-fde-7.0, linux-gcp-7.0, linux-gke, linux-oracle-7.0, linux-realtime vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8959-1 linux, linux-aws, linux-gcp, linux-hwe-7.0, linux-ibm, linux-oracle vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-9019-1 linux-azure vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8960-1 linux-oem-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 12, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:12131-1 kernel-devel-7.2.10-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 15, 2026