Look up another CVE · open CVE-2026-72112 in the interactive tracker
CVE-2026-72112
io_uring/bpf-ops: reject re-registration of an already-bound ops
Published 2026-08-15 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem io_uring. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-72112 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | not affected | 6.12.113-1 | Nothing to do. trixie never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
io_install_bpf() only rejects a second registration on the ctx side (ctx->bpf_ops) and sets the per-map back-pointer ops->priv unconditionally. The struct_ops link path never advances a map past BPF_STRUCT_OPS_STATE_READY, so the same io_uring_bpf_ops map can be registered more than once, and bpf_io_reg() re-resolves the target ring via fget(ops->ring_fd) on every call. A caller can therefore point the same ring_fd at a different io_ring_ctx between two BPF_LINK_CREATE calls. The second registration passes the ctx->bpf_ops check (the new ctx has none) and overwrites ops->priv, orphaning the first ctx. Teardown (io_eject_bpf()/bpf_io_unreg()) only reaches a ctx through ops->priv, so the orphaned ctx is never torn down: its ctx->loop_step keeps pointing into the struct_ops trampoline, which is freed once the map is gone. A later io_uring_enter() on the orphaned ring then calls the dangling ctx->loop_step from io_run_loop() -- a use-after-free of freed executable memory, reachable by a task with CAP_BPF + CAP_PERFMON. Reject registration when ops->priv is already set, as hid_bpf_reg() does for its struct_ops.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
io_uring/bpf-ops.c
- What this is
- IO_URING BPF-OPSMAINTAINERS section matched on io_uring/bpf-ops.* · io-uring@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_IO_URING_BPF_OPS /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed. The build rule could not be established for 2 releases, so nothing is claimed about those.
- bookworm, trixie?
- forky, sidYnot built on armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, loong64/loong64, s390x/s390x
- ?
- not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file
- Y
- built in where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
Where a release above reads "not established", no build rule for the affected file was found in that release's kernel tree. That is a gap in this lookup, not a finding that the code is absent.
- Build switch
- CONFIG_IO_URING_BPF_OPS
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-08-15 (2 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 7.8 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- local (AV:L)source
- EPSS
- 0.17%, higher than 5.4% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- io_uring
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | 7.1.5 | 0639ea767fe0 |
| 7.1 | 7.2 | 3afc64c61ce9 |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:LAttack vector, local
- The bug is reached only through local bpf() syscalls (BPF_MAP_CREATE/UPDATE_ELEM, BPF_PROG_LOAD, BPF_LINK_CREATE) and io_uring_setup/io_uring_enter on an orphaned ring; per kernel guidance io_uring and BPF are Local attack vectors with no remote packet path.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- Exploitation is fully deterministic and attacker-controlled: create two DEFER_TASKRUN rings, link the same struct_ops map twice after dup2 repointing ring_fd, free the map/link, then io_uring_enter on the orphaned ring; no race or conditions outside attacker control are required.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- The commit requires CAP_BPF and CAP_PERFMON, but bpf_token_capable() can delegate these into non-init user namespaces via BPF tokens in containerized deployments, and io_uring is commonly available to local users; under uncertainty this is scored Low rather than High.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- No victim interaction is needed; once the attacker has BPF and io_uring access they can perform every setup, teardown, and triggering step themselves without any other user opening files or taking action.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- Impact is confined to kernel memory and execution within the same kernel security authority (standard local privilege-escalation/memory-corruption class), not a VM escape, IOMMU bypass, or other cross-scope boundary.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- Orphaned ctx->loop_step retains a pointer into a freed BPF struct_ops trampoline page; executing or dereferencing that UAF can expose reclaimed slab contents and supports building arbitrary read primitives, so confidentiality impact is High per UAF guidance.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The dangling loop_step calls freed executable trampoline memory from io_run_loop(); with heap grooming an attacker can reclaim those pages with controlled contents, enabling control-flow hijack and arbitrary kernel write, so integrity impact is High.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Invoking the dangling ctx->loop_step after trampoline teardown causes use-after-free of executable kernel memory during io_uring_enter, which can reliably trigger kernel oops, BUG, or panic and is repeatable on demand.