CVE-2026-64424: netpoll: fix a use-after-free on shutdown path

High 7.8 EPSS 0.1% Linux kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netpoll: fix a use-after-free on shutdown path There is a use-after-free error on netpoll, which is clearly detected by KASAN. BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x3b/0x80 Read of size 1 at addr ... by task kworker/9:1 Workqueue: events queue_process Call Trace: skb_dequeue+0x1e/0xb0 queue_process+0x2c/0x600 process_scheduled_works+0x4b6/0x850 worker_thread+0x414/0x5a0 Allocated by task 242: __netpoll_setup+0x201/0x4a0 netpoll_setup+0x249/0x550 enabled_store+0x32f/0x380 Freed by task 0: kfree+0x1b7/0x540 rcu_core+0x3f8/0x7a0 The problem happens when there is a pending TX worker running in parallel with the cleanup path. This is what happens on netpoll shutdown path: 1) __netpoll_cleanup() is called 2) set dev->npinfo to NULL 3) call_rcu() with rcu_cleanup_netpoll_info() 3.1) rcu_cleanup_netpoll_info() tries to cancel all workers with cancel_delayed_work(), but doesn't wait for the worker to finish 4) and kfree(npinfo); Because 3.1) doesn't really cancel the work, as the comment says "we can't call cancel_delayed_work_sync here, as we are in softirq", the TX worker can run after 4). Tl;DR: queue_process() is not an RCU reader, it reaches npinfo through the work item via container_of(). Use disable_delayed_work_sync() to ensure the worker is completely stopped and prevent any future re-arming attempts. Once npinfo is set to NULL, senders will bail out and not queue new work. The disable flag ensures any in-flight re-arming attempts also fail silently. In the future, we can do the cleanup inline here without needing the npinfo->rcu rcu_head, but that is net-next material.

What do these terms mean? CVE · CVSS score · exploited (KEV) · EPSS · backported fix · all terms

What to do now

  1. Check whether you run Linux kernel and which version (commands below).
  2. Install the fixed version for your system: see “Patch it” below.
  3. Reboot into the new kernel (uname -r to confirm); live patching (kpatch, Ubuntu Livepatch, SUSE kGraft/klp) can defer the reboot for some CVEs

Affected and fixed versions

Affected:

Patch it

Use the commands for your system. Distribution packages often keep an older version number with the fix backported, so compare with the fixed package versions in the table below, not only with the upstream version.

Debian
sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade linux-image-amd64
Ubuntu
sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade linux-image-generic (or the installed flavour: linux-image-aws, -azure, -gcp, -virtual)
RHEL, AlmaLinux, Rocky, Oracle
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh kernel
Fedora
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh kernel
SUSE / openSUSE
sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper update kernel-default
Amazon Linux
sudo dnf upgrade --releasever=latest kernel kernel6.12
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu
Alpine
apk update && apk upgrade linux-lts linux-virt
FreeBSD
not Linux

General update steps for every system are on the Linux and Unix & BSD pages; after updating, see which services to restart.

Fix status in Linux distributions

ReleasePackageStatusFixed version / advisory
Debian 12linuxnot fixed yet
Debian 13linuxfixed6.12.96-1
Debian testinglinuxfixed7.1.4-1
Debian 12linux-6.12fixed6.12.100-1~deb12u1
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9kernelfix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9kernel-rtfix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8kernelfix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8kernel-rtfix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7kernelfix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7kernel-rtfix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6kernelout of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10kernelfix deferred

From the Debian security tracker, Ubuntu CVE tracker and Red Hat Security Data API, refreshed every few hours.

Sources

Page generated automatically from official sources on 2026-11-03 18:05 UTC. Always confirm with your vendor's advisory.