CVE-2026-97992

What the bug is

vhost_vdpa_config_cb() loads v->config_ctx and signals it without taking a reference and without holding any lock: struct eventfd_ctx *config_ctx = v->config_ctx; if (config_ctx) eventfd_signal(config_ctx); VHOST_VDPA_SET_CONFIG_CALL replaces that field and drops what is normally the last reference to the old context: swap(ctx, v->config_ctx); if (ctx) eventfd_ctx_put(ctx); eventfd_ctx_put() drops the last kref and frees the context immediately, with no RCU grace period, so a callback that has already loaded the pointer goes on to dereference freed memory. The two sides share no lock: the ioctl runs under vhost_dev.mutex, while the parent invokes the callback from its own interrupt or workqueue context. This is not the reopen refcount underflow fixed by commit f6bbf0010ba0 ("vhost-vdpa: fix use-after-free of v->config_ctx"), which was about vhost_vdpa_config_put() leaving a stale pointer behind. Here the pointer is maintained correctly and it is the read side that is unprotected. With VDUSE as the parent this is reachable from userspace with access to /dev/vduse (root by default). VDUSE_DEV_INJECT_CONFIG_IRQ queues dev->inject, and vduse_dev_irq_inject() runs the callback under VDUSE's own dev->irq_lock, which vhost does not hold. vduse_dev_reset() does flush_work(&dev->inject), but VHOST_VDPA_SET_CONFIG_CALL never goes through reset, so an inject already in flight is not waited for. A process that injects config interrupts on the VDUSE fd while another thread swaps the call fd on the vhost-vdpa fd hits it in seconds: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in native_queued_spin_lock_slowpath Read of size 4 at addr ffff888107d21808 by task kworker/u17:1/2993 Workqueue: vduse-irq vduse_dev_irq_inject Call Trace: native_queued_spin_lock_slowpath+0x97/0x5b0 _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0xd4/0xe0 eventfd_signal_mask+0x69/0x120 vhost_vdpa_config_cb+0x34/0x50 vduse_dev_irq_inject+0x46/0x60 process_one_work+0x468/0x950 Allocated by task 2992: do_eventfd+0x50/0x200 __x64_sys_eventfd2+0x2e/0x40 Freed by task 2992: eventfd_ctx_put+0xb9/0xc0 vhost_vdpa_unlocked_ioctl+0x116c/0x2190 Add a spinlock covering every access to config_ctx, so the callback either signals a context that is still alive or observes NULL, and the put happens only once no callback can reach the old value. Clearing the parent's callback before the put would not be enough: of the in-tree set_config_cb() implementations only VDUSE takes a lock, the rest store the pointer unlocked, so that would not order against an in-flight invocation.

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/vhost/vdpa.c

What this is

VIRTIO HOST (VHOST)MAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/vhost/ · kvm@vger.kernel.org · Maintained

Kernel module

none to look for. The file would have gone into vhost_vdpa, and Debian does not compile it into that module, so finding vhost_vdpa in lsmod would say nothing about this CVE.

Check it on the machine

grep -wE 'CONFIG_VHOST|CONFIG_VHOST_IOTLB|CONFIG_VHOST_RING|CONFIG_VHOST_VDPA' /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 5 releases below, every kernel flavour Debian publishes has the switch off, so the vulnerable file is compiled into no kernel binary Debian ships.

• bookworm, trixie, forky, sid, bookworm · linux-6.12n

n

not enabled on any flavour - this release does not build the code

Build switches

CONFIG_VHOST, CONFIG_VHOST_IOTLB, CONFIG_VHOST_RING, CONFIG_VHOST_VDPA

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

2026-09-25 (24 days ago)source

CVSS

no vector published, unrated

Attack vector

not published

EPSS

0.20%, higher than 9.2% of all CVEssource

CISA KEV

not listedthe KEV catalogue

Debian urgency

not yet assignedsource

Subsystem

drivers/vhost

Upstream fixes

The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source

Introduced	Fixed in	Commit
5.8	6.12.111	bf35c8948ab7
5.8	6.18.53	5a075ee23989
5.8	7.2.7	f4a93f15ed1c
5.8	7.3	62be4e3e5f5f

Debian advisories