CVE-2026-74656 PUBLISHED

ipv4: fix use-after-free in fib_nhc_update_mtu()

Assigner: Linux
Reserved: 15.08.2026 Published: 22.08.2026 Updated: 22.08.2026

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ipv4: fix use-after-free in fib_nhc_update_mtu()

fib_nhc_update_mtu() walks the nexthop exception table under RTNL, but RTNL does not serialize this walk with PMTU exception updates. The walk uses rcu_dereference_protected() with a constant true condition without holding fnhe_lock.

The following interleaving can therefore occur:

CPU 0 CPU 1 fib_nhc_update_mtu() update_or_create_fnhe() load fnhe spin_lock_bh(&fnhe_lock) fnhe_remove_oldest() unlink fnhe kfree_rcu(fnhe, rcu) <quiescent state> access fnhe after grace period

KASAN reported:

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in fib_nhc_update_mtu+0x3df/0x410 Read of size 8 at addr ffff888107d49000 by task poc/90 Call Trace: fib_nhc_update_mtu+0x3df/0x410 fib_sync_mtu+0x7a/0xd0 fib_netdev_event+0x229/0x3f0 netif_set_mtu_ext+0x33a/0x570 dev_set_mtu+0x88/0x120

The same walk updates fnhe_pmtu and fnhe_mtu_locked. These fields form a pair and other writers serialize them with fnhe_lock. RCU alone prevents reclamation, but would still allow concurrent writers to leave a mixed pair.

Walk the table under RCU and acquire fnhe_lock only while updating each exception. RCU keeps the current entry alive while the short critical section serializes its paired PMTU fields. This avoids holding the global lock while scanning all 2048 buckets for every nexthop.

Product Status

Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from af7d6cce53694a88d6a1bb60c9a239a6a5144459 to fd39e711866498ae94fcf9acf6f422a4f045b681 (excl.)
  • affected from af7d6cce53694a88d6a1bb60c9a239a6a5144459 to e1e602d6b22d5cb1641c4459c487eb18bf569e0a (excl.)
  • affected from af7d6cce53694a88d6a1bb60c9a239a6a5144459 to e00f7d2b5f2540a3415a229c982af7a25ff6362e (excl.)
  • affected from af7d6cce53694a88d6a1bb60c9a239a6a5144459 to dfe388da13aa784851e5ebbea90afbb099075761 (excl.)
  • affected from af7d6cce53694a88d6a1bb60c9a239a6a5144459 to 5a28a4b22dde92f9d293b94236314b8d6181dc4a (excl.)
  • affected from af7d6cce53694a88d6a1bb60c9a239a6a5144459 to 63996ffc594d128ccec8fc0983f91effd2d3adc4 (excl.)
  • affected from af7d6cce53694a88d6a1bb60c9a239a6a5144459 to ed503eaad62f20cdd5122d7c3078a648a99c8f16 (excl.)
  • affected from af7d6cce53694a88d6a1bb60c9a239a6a5144459 to bc5bde9ce3cc36502839dfe98e068f7303a50982 (excl.)
  • Version b427832009b97a3ee412ef643a80b15372a7754d is affected
  • Version 2b7e4c735933be79882aba2bed9afa789e03c62f is affected
  • Version 8d59c3a6376bbc6dd3f7303968a719ffba75a4f1 is affected
  • Version 9b4869cf385aa16f89c0f019eed4ec4e36aa441c is affected
  • Version ff34695ced21e2dfa04d0fa1c5f6c35011fa8117 is affected
  • affected from 3.16.62 to 3.17 (excl.)
  • affected from 4.4.162 to 4.5 (excl.)
  • affected from 4.9.134 to 4.10 (excl.)
  • affected from 4.14.77 to 4.15 (excl.)
  • affected from 4.18.15 to 4.19 (excl.)
Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: affected
  • Version 4.19 is affected
  • unaffected from 0 to 4.19 (excl.)
  • unaffected from 5.10.265 to 5.10.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 5.15.216 to 5.15.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.1.183 to 6.1.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.6.152 to 6.6.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.12.104 to 6.12.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.18.45 to 6.18.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.1.9 to 7.1.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.2 to * (incl.)

References