CVE-2026-98231
Status: ReceivedUnscored—
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
xfrm: serialize state GC with device state flush
The deferred-device pass in xfrm_dev_state_flush() finds states under xfrm_state_dev_gc_lock, but drops the lock before calling xfrm_dev_state_free() because the driver callback may sleep. The device GC list does not hold an xfrm_state reference, so the state GC worker can destroy the same state concurrently.
The race can proceed as follows:
Both paths can invoke the driver callback and drop the device reference. CPU 0 can also access the xfrm_state after CPU 1 has freed it.
Serialize xfrm_state destruction against the deferred-device pass with a mutex. Keep xfrm_state_dev_gc_lock limited to list operations and retain the existing callback and device-reference release ordering.
Technical details traces, logs and code from the original report
CPU 0 CPU 1
find x on the device GC list
drop xfrm_state_dev_gc_lock
read x->xso.dev
xfrm_state_gc_destroy(x)
xfrm_dev_state_free(x)
xfrm_state_free(x)
continue xfrm_dev_state_free(x)
KASAN reported:
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in xfrm_dev_state_free+0x24c/0x2a0
Read of size 8 at addr ffff88810bbaa960 by task poc/102
Call Trace:
xfrm_dev_state_free+0x24c/0x2a0
xfrm_dev_state_flush+0x353/0x400
xfrm_dev_event+0x26d/0x3a0
notifier_call_chain+0xc0/0x280
__dev_notify_flags+0x169/0x250
netif_change_flags+0xe7/0x160
dev_change_flags+0x96/0x220
devinet_ioctl+0x7f4/0x1880
Allocated by task 87:
xfrm_state_alloc+0x1e/0x5c0
xfrm_add_sa+0xe7f/0x5820
xfrm_user_rcv_msg+0x4f3/0x940
Freed by task 57:
kmem_cache_free+0xcb/0x3d0
xfrm_state_gc_task+0x4a8/0x650
process_one_work+0x63a/0x1070CVSS
NVD hasn't assigned a CVSS score to this CVE (common since the April 2026 policy change).
Exploitation probability (EPSS)
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.21%
- Percentile among all scored CVEs: 10
- Score date: 10/6/2026
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
Affected technologies (1)
⚠ AI-inferred from the description — NVD hasn't analyzed this CVE yet, these aren't verified CPEs.
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/39e41af3653ee45c985190dd97426f318918d201
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75fc4561772e2f9811abf39ed10443e6f4a4bc6c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/84e378395494963b1e581cf223a7cbeec8c0e2d6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/89fefad9f971bc637fb22373078144f2563c4be9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/937108dc0258d6ac69926b00bc53598c98986ee1
Raw JSON (NVD)
Show
{
"id": "CVE-2026-98231",
"cveTags": [],
"metrics": {},
"affected": [
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"affectedData": [
{
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"product": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "d5f53edd43daf3e6e1633a49c561387f8f99e13f",
"lessThan": "937108dc0258d6ac69926b00bc53598c98986ee1",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "07b87f9eea0c30675084d50c82532d20168da009",
"lessThan": "39e41af3653ee45c985190dd97426f318918d201",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "07b87f9eea0c30675084d50c82532d20168da009",
"lessThan": "75fc4561772e2f9811abf39ed10443e6f4a4bc6c",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "07b87f9eea0c30675084d50c82532d20168da009",
"lessThan": "84e378395494963b1e581cf223a7cbeec8c0e2d6",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "07b87f9eea0c30675084d50c82532d20168da009",
"lessThan": "89fefad9f971bc637fb22373078144f2563c4be9",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "8ecee44464a4926c9bef989a1490b7394785f584",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.6.44",
"lessThan": "6.6.158",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.10.3",
"lessThan": "6.11",
"versionType": "semver"
}
],
"programFiles": [
"net/xfrm/xfrm_state.c"
],
"defaultStatus": "unaffected"
},
{
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"product": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.11"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"lessThan": "6.11",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.6.158",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.12.112",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.18.54",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.2.8",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.3-rc4",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
"lessThanOrEqual": "*"
}
],
"programFiles": [
"net/xfrm/xfrm_state.c"
],
"defaultStatus": "affected"
}
]
}
],
"published": "2026-10-06T09:18:10.540",
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/39e41af3653ee45c985190dd97426f318918d201",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75fc4561772e2f9811abf39ed10443e6f4a4bc6c",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/84e378395494963b1e581cf223a7cbeec8c0e2d6",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/89fefad9f971bc637fb22373078144f2563c4be9",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/937108dc0258d6ac69926b00bc53598c98986ee1",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}
],
"vulnStatus": "Received",
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nxfrm: serialize state GC with device state flush\n\nThe deferred-device pass in xfrm_dev_state_flush() finds states under\nxfrm_state_dev_gc_lock, but drops the lock before calling\nxfrm_dev_state_free() because the driver callback may sleep. The device\nGC list does not hold an xfrm_state reference, so the state GC worker can\ndestroy the same state concurrently.\n\nThe race can proceed as follows:\n\n CPU 0 CPU 1\n find x on the device GC list\n drop xfrm_state_dev_gc_lock\n read x->xso.dev\n xfrm_state_gc_destroy(x)\n xfrm_dev_state_free(x)\n xfrm_state_free(x)\n continue xfrm_dev_state_free(x)\n\nBoth paths can invoke the driver callback and drop the device reference.\nCPU 0 can also access the xfrm_state after CPU 1 has freed it.\n\nKASAN reported:\n\n BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in xfrm_dev_state_free+0x24c/0x2a0\n Read of size 8 at addr ffff88810bbaa960 by task poc/102\n\n Call Trace:\n xfrm_dev_state_free+0x24c/0x2a0\n xfrm_dev_state_flush+0x353/0x400\n xfrm_dev_event+0x26d/0x3a0\n notifier_call_chain+0xc0/0x280\n __dev_notify_flags+0x169/0x250\n netif_change_flags+0xe7/0x160\n dev_change_flags+0x96/0x220\n devinet_ioctl+0x7f4/0x1880\n\n Allocated by task 87:\n xfrm_state_alloc+0x1e/0x5c0\n xfrm_add_sa+0xe7f/0x5820\n xfrm_user_rcv_msg+0x4f3/0x940\n\n Freed by task 57:\n kmem_cache_free+0xcb/0x3d0\n xfrm_state_gc_task+0x4a8/0x650\n process_one_work+0x63a/0x1070\n\nSerialize xfrm_state destruction against the deferred-device pass with a\nmutex. Keep xfrm_state_dev_gc_lock limited to list operations and retain\nthe existing callback and device-reference release ordering."
}
],
"lastModified": "2026-10-06T09:18:10.540",
"sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}