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CVE-2026-90392
bpf: Fix potential UAF when reading bpf link info
Published 2026-09-17 (31 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem kernel/bpf. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-90392 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 | fixedDSA-6528-1 · 2026-09-29 · text | 6.12.111-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DSA-6528-1 shipped the fix on 2026-09-29, in 6.12.111-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| 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. |
| Debian 12bookworm · linux-6.12 | fixedDLA-4817-1 · 2026-10-04 · text | 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4817-1 shipped the fix on 2026-10-04, in 6.12.111-1~deb12u1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
In bpf_link_show_fdinfo and bpf_link_get_info_by_fd, link->prog is accessed without holding any locks. If the prog is concurrently replaced via bpf_link_update, the old prog can be freed, leading to a potential UAF issue. Fix this by accessing link->prog under RCU protection to safely fetch the pointer and guarantee its lifetime while reading its fields.
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.
kernel/bpf/syscall.c
- What this is
- BPF [CORE]MAINTAINERS section matched on kernel/bpf/syscall.c · bpf@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_BPF|CONFIG_BPF_SYSCALL' /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 code. Every release below compiles the affected file into the kernels it ships.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sid, bookworm · linux-6.12y
- y
- built into the kernel image on every flavour - only a patch removes it
- Build switches
- CONFIG_BPF, CONFIG_BPF_SYSCALL
- 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
- 2026-09-17 (31 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
- 0.16%, higher than 5.2% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- kernel/bpf
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 5.7 | 6.6.157 | a5c936ac9047 |
| 5.7 | 6.12.110 | d7d7208e2603 |
| 5.7 | 6.18.52 | 85cf991c881e |
| 5.7 | 7.2.6 | 79347e42cfbc |
| 5.7 | 7.3 | 863f3ddd0b8a |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4817-1 | 2026-10-04 | bookworm 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 | tracker |
| DSA-6528-1 | 2026-09-29 | trixie 6.12.111-1 | tracker |
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 dangling link->prog is read from the local bpf(2) BPF_OBJ_GET_INFO_BY_FD command (bpf_obj_get_info_by_fd()->bpf_link_get_info_by_fd()) or from bpf_link_show_fdinfo() when reading /proc/self/fdinfo on a bpf_link fd; neither path takes the malformed state from a network protocol.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- The attacker owns both sides: one thread issues BPF_LINK_UPDATE so link_update() runs cgroup_bpf_replace()/tcx_link_update()/sock_map_link_update_prog() which xchg(&link->prog) and bpf_prog_put() the old program, while another thread they control races bpf_link_get_info_by_fd() or bpf_link_show_fdinfo(), which sleeps in seq_printf after capturing the pointer.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- Creating a replaceable link requires bpf_prog_load() of a type whose ops implement update_prog (CGROUP_SKB, SCHED_CLS, SK_SKB, XDP, FLOW_DISSECTOR) plus BPF_LINK_CREATE; those paths require bpf_token_capable(CAP_BPF) and usually CAP_NET_ADMIN (CGROUP_SKB attach also checks it in bpf_prog_attach_check_attach_type), which a BPF token delegates into a user namespace.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- The attacker loads two programs, BPF_LINK_CREATE the first as a cgroup/tcx/sockmap/xdp/netns link, closes the old program fd so the link holds the last ref, then races BPF_LINK_UPDATE against BPF_OBJ_GET_INFO_BY_FD or fdinfo in their own process; no other user action is required.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The use-after-free is of the replaced bpf_prog inside bpf_link_get_info_by_fd()/bpf_link_show_fdinfo() on the host kernel; impact is local kernel memory corruption and privilege escalation, not a VM, IOMMU, or other authority-boundary cross.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- After the concurrent bpf_prog_put(), bpf_link_get_info_by_fd() reads prog->aux->id and bpf_link_show_fdinfo() copies prog->tag then aux->id from the freed bpf_prog; __bpf_prog_free() kfree()s the kmalloc bpf_prog_aux, so reclaiming that object turns the dangling aux pointer into an arbitrary kernel read.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The same bpf_prog/bpf_prog_aux use-after-free after cgroup_bpf_replace() (or tcx/sockmap/xdp/netns update_prog) lets the attacker spray the freed kmalloc aux and vmalloc prog; kernel heap UAF of those objects yields write and control-flow hijack primitives.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- bpf_link_get_info_by_fd() and bpf_link_show_fdinfo() dereference the freed bpf_prog and prog->aux after BPF_LINK_UPDATE drops the last ref via bpf_prog_put(); a recycled or poisoned aux pointer causes a kernel oops.