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CVE-2026-72405
net: udp_tunnel: prevent double queueing in udp_tunnel_nic_device_sync
Published 2026-08-15 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem net/ipv4. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-72405 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 | vulnerable | 6.1.190-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series bookworm tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for bookworm have historically landed a median of 23 days after publication. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.100-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.100-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| 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
Yue Sun reported a use-after-free and debugobjects warning in udp_tunnel_nic_device_sync_work() during concurrent device operations. The workqueue core clears the internal pending bit before invoking the worker. At that point, a concurrent thread can queue the work again. When the already running worker eventually clears the work_pending flag to 0, it mistakenly clears the flag for the newly queued instance. udp_tunnel_nic_unregister() then observes work_pending as 0 and frees the structure while the second work item is still active in the queue, leading to UAF. Fix this by returning early in udp_tunnel_nic_device_sync() if work_pending is already set, preventing redundant work queueing.
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.
net/ipv4/udp_tunnel_nic.c
- What this is
- NETWORKING [GENERAL]MAINTAINERS section matched on net/ · netdev@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- udp_tunnel
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_INET|CONFIG_NET_UDP_TUNNEL' /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.
lsmod | grep -w udp_tunnelPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this as a loadable module. Every release below compiles it as a module on every flavour, so whether the code is in the running kernel depends on whether that module is loaded.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sidm
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
- Build switches
- CONFIG_INET, CONFIG_NET_UDP_TUNNEL
- Reads as
- all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.
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 6.0% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- net/ipv4
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 5.9 | 6.12.97 | cee6688e5731 |
| 5.9 | 6.18.40 | 9075efb9b2c1 |
| 5.9 | 7.1.5 | 54292b167466 |
| 5.9 | 7.2 | ecf69d4b4337 |
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 netlink/RTNL paths (VXLAN/Geneve tunnel socket create/delete, netdev feature updates, or netdev unregister) that queue udp_tunnel_nic_device_sync; remote UDP/VXLAN packets do not enter this offload management code.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- An attacker can reliably win the race by running concurrent tunnel create/delete or netdev operations in multiple threads; both the double-queue and the premature free depend on attacker-controlled timing, not on uncontrollable system state.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- Triggering udp_tunnel_notify_add/del_rx_port requires CAP_NET_ADMIN (e.g. ip link add/del vxlan/geneve), which unprivileged users can obtain in a user/network namespace via unshare; no remote or pre-auth network path exists.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- Exploitation requires only programmatic tunnel or netdev manipulation via netlink; no victim user action such as opening a file or mounting a filesystem is needed.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- Impact is kernel heap corruption and potential privilege escalation within the same kernel/host security domain; it does not by itself cross a VM, container, or IOMMU boundary to another authority.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- The flaw is a use-after-free of struct udp_tunnel_nic; freed offload state can be reallocated and read through the still-queued work handler, enabling arbitrary kernel memory disclosure.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- UAF on the udp_tunnel_nic work item and its entries allows heap grooming and corrupting kernel objects/driver callbacks, supporting arbitrary write and potential kernel code execution.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Use-after-free in a workqueue handler on a shared offload path can cause kernel oops/panic or wedged NIC offload during concurrent tunnel churn, producing total loss of availability.