Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
io_uring/io-wq: don't hide a link from cancellations
A task that exits cancels its tracked requests and waits until they are
gone. io_uring_cancel_generic() looks everywhere a request can be, and
goes to sleep if it found nothing to cancel. It is woken up each time
one of the requests of the task is completed by task work or freed.
When io-wq is done with a request that has a link, there is a time in which
the next request of the link can't be found:
io_worker_handle_work()
io_assign_current_work(worker, NULL)
io_wq_free_work(work)
io_req_find_next() // takes the link off the request
io_free_req() // task work for the task
io_assign_current_work(worker, linked)
io_run_task_work()
cond_resched()
worker->cur_work = linked
It is not pending, it is not the current work of a worker, and it is not
yet on the list that it is about to be parked on. If the pass that the
exiting task makes because of io_free_req() falls into that time, it finds
nothing and the task goes to sleep. The worker then runs the link, which
IO_WQ_BIT_EXIT doesn't prevent for bounded work. If that parks the request
nothing is completed or freed, and nobody wakes up the task. If it is the
process that exits it can't be killed any more either.
NOP, IOSQE_ASYNC | IOSQE_IO_LINK
FUTEX_WAIT, FUTEX2_PRIVATE
exit of the thread, or of the process, up to 63us later
With four of these per round 5 to 8 of 10,000 rounds hang (4 CPUs, KVM):
io_uring_cancel_generic
do_exit
Commit f8b632e89a10 ("io_uring: tighten task exit cancellations") is about
the same gap, and makes the task look again for whatever happens before
io_free_req().
Free the request once the link is the current work of the worker, or
pending. Whoever is woken up by that can find the link, until it is parked
where cancellations look as well. To do so split io_wq_free_work() in two.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.5 | 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 | 7.2.14-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 6.12.115-1 | — |
| 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 26.10 | linux +8 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux +14 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux +52 | No fix yet | — |
Show 10 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux +59 | No fix yet | — |
| 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-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-preview 22.04 LTS | linux-fips +3 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | linux-aws-5.15 +10 | No fix yet | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | kernel-source | 7.3.3-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:12497-1 |
Amazon Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2023 | kernel-livepatch-6.12.115-140.210 | 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2026-3448 |
| Amazon Linux 2023 | perf6.12 +11 | 1:6.12.115-140.210.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2026-3448 |
Azure Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Linux 3 | kernel | 6.6.161.1-1 | — |
Advisories 3
- ALAS2023-2026-3448 Important: kernel6.12 security update (Amazon Linux 2023) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Nov 12, 2026
- WID-SEC-2026-4302 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichen nicht spezifizierten Angriff BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 10, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:12497-1 kernel-devel-7.3.3-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Nov 10, 2026
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/98470f164286f7f62aaee519d4d11b9370ce6d7b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d39ebc7a583d650b1d6da9b45e2ce96ad4d877e4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ebe8e97fb99d9f374c482902a00677cfd24a6c27
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3e02b8df0e9fa1423ac2a4e03409a9329c30ac49
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/92e20e9c72bdf6cfa6f84eded7b33399bc7061da
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/59e45f44c3cea9f4b2d099171c3cec1d25c5b638
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/436d48a2ed13112d2d27085325838e5bce6b4507