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CVE-2026-80955
dm-pcache: fix use-after-free and invalid seg operations in kset_replay()
Published 2026-09-11 (37 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/md. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-80955 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 | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
In kset_replay, when key->seg_gen is stale (key->seg_gen < key->cache_pos.cache_seg->gen), cache_key_put(key) is called but then key->cache_pos.cache_seg is accessed as the argument to cache_seg_get(). This is a use-after-free on the freed key memory. Although mempool recycled memory is not immediately reclaimed or overwritten in practice, this is still a potential UAF bug. Additionally, for expired invalid keys, setting the cache->seg_map bit and calling cache_seg_get() is unreasonable since the corresponding segment data is no longer valid. Fix both issues by moving cache_seg_get() and __set_bit() after the gen check, so they only execute for valid keys, and using continue to skip invalid keys.
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.
drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_key.c
- What this is
- DEVICE-MAPPER PCACHE TARGETMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/md/dm-pcache/ · dm-devel@lists.linux.dev · Maintained
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_DM_PCACHE|CONFIG_MD' /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 does not build this code in 2 releases. The build rule could not be established for 2 releases, so nothing is claimed about those.
- bookworm, trixie?
- forky, sidn
- ?
- not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file
- n
- not enabled on any flavour - this release does not build the code
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 switches
- CONFIG_DM_PCACHE, CONFIG_MD
- 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
- 2026-09-11 (37 days 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 5.8% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/md
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.18 | 6.18.50 | 1894fc7a3bab |
| 6.18 | 7.2.4 | f39a3e9cc594 |
| 6.18 | 7.3 | c2e894eac398 |
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 UAF is reached only via local device-mapper ioctls on /dev/mapper/control (ctl_ioctl → table_load → dm_pcache_ctr → pcache_start → pcache_cache_start → cache_init_req_keys → cache_replay → kset_replay). No network, Bluetooth, or physical-bus path feeds this replay code.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- The attacker fully controls the DAX cache-device image, including kset records (CRC uses public PCACHE_CRC_SEED 0x3B15A) and per-segment gen metadata, so they can deterministically encode keys with seg_gen < cache_seg->gen and hit the free-then-use on every table load; no race or victim-side state is required.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- ctl_ioctl gates DM_TABLE_LOAD with capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN), which is obtainable inside an unprivileged user namespace (and in storage containers with delegated mapper/DAX nodes); per kernel CNA guidance that is Low, not init-namespace root only.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- Exploitation requires only the attacker's own dmsetup/DM_TABLE_LOAD of a pcache target whose cache device holds crafted INIT_DONE ksets; no separate victim must mount media, open a file, or otherwise interact.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The use-after-free is of a pcache_cache_key in the req_key_tree mempool and of cache seg_map/segment refcounts inside the host kernel; it does not cross a VM, hypervisor, IOMMU, or other separate security-authority boundary.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- On a stale key, cache_key_put() mempool-frees the decoded pcache_cache_key and kset_replay then reads key->cache_pos.cache_seg from that freed heap object. A kernel UAF of a slab/mempool object enables reclaim and an arbitrary read primitive, so confidentiality is High.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The dangling key is passed to cache_seg_get(), which atomic_inc()s refs on the pointer loaded from freed memory, and the stale path also __set_bit()s cache->seg_map before the gen check. That UAF write/refcount primitive is Integrity High and is exploitable for control-flow hijack after spraying.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Using the freed cache key (and inflating segment refs plus seg_map bits for invalid keys) can oops or panic on poisoned/reused mempool memory or under KASAN/slub debug; any kernel crash from this UAF is Availability High.