CVE-2026-97583 PUBLISHED

afs: Clear stale peer app data after address list changes

Assigner: Linux
Reserved: 24.09.2026 Published: 25.09.2026 Updated: 25.09.2026

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

afs: Clear stale peer app data after address list changes

afs_fs_probe_fileserver() fetches the current endpoint state under server->fs_lock, but leaves old_alist as NULL. Consequently, afs_set_peer_appdata() treats every address list replacement as initial setup and only binds the new peers; it never unbinds peers removed from the old list.

An address refresh can therefore proceed as follows. CPU 0 replaces server S's list and drops Pold without clearing Pold->app_data. The server destroyer then clears only S's current peers and lets S reach its RCU callback. After the callback frees S, CPU 1 handles a callback through an RxRPC connection that still pins Pold, reads Pold->app_data, and calls afs_use_server() on the freed object.

KASAN reported:

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in afs_find_server+0x3c/0xa0 Read of size 4 at addr ffff8881013e1af0 by task krxrpcio/7001/74 Call Trace: afs_find_server+0x3c/0xa0 afs_rx_new_call+0x15c/0x390 rxrpc_new_incoming_call+0x97c/0x1730 rxrpc_input_packet.constprop.0+0xd03/0xec0 rxrpc_io_thread+0x967/0x1640 Allocated by task 93: afs_lookup_server+0x1a7/0x14c0 afs_alloc_server_list+0x43f/0xb60 afs_create_volume+0x923/0x1490 afs_get_tree+0x1c6/0x10a0 Freed by task 0: kfree+0x131/0x3c0 rcu_core+0x50a/0x1850 Last potentially related work creation: __call_rcu_common.constprop.0+0x71/0xa10 afs_put_server+0x213/0x2b0

Preserve old->addresses for the peer app-data update so that removed peers are cleared before the endpoint state is replaced. Also advance both cursors when the old and new lists share a peer; activating the old/new comparison without this would otherwise loop forever on the shared entry.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS Score: 7.5

AV:N - A remote cell operator supplies the changed fileserver address list in the VL address-lookup reply (afs_vl_lookup_addrs -> afs_fs_probe_fileserver). A later incoming RxRPC call over UDP from a dropped peer reaches afs_rx_new_call -> afs_find_server, which dereferences the freed server through the stale peer app_data. AC:H - Triggering needs a specific order of events: the client refreshes the server's address list and gets a new version, then the server record goes unused and is freed by afs_server_destroyer after the GC delay, while an RxRPC connection still holds the old peer. Only then does a new incoming call hit it. The refresh and teardown timing follow the client's own activity, not the attacker's. PR:N - The VL reply and the incoming cache-manager call that reaches afs_rx_new_call/afs_find_server are handled before any server identity check. The attacker needs no account on the victim host. UI:R - The victim must have mounted, or be actively using, a volume from the attacker's AFS cell so that afs_lookup_server and afs_update_server_record run against the attacker's VL server. AFS mounts are not user-namespace mountable. S:U - The use-after-free happens in the kernel AFS client's afs_server object and stays within the kernel's own security authority. No VM, sandbox or IOMMU boundary is crossed. C:H - afs_use_server() works on a freed kmalloc'd afs_server reached through the stale peer app_data. If that slab is reclaimed, fields the attacker controls are read as server state, including pointers, which can leak kernel memory. I:H - afs_use_server() increments the active counter, and the call path then takes references and queues work on the freed afs_server. Writing into a reallocated object gives a memory-corruption primitive that could be used to hijack control flow. A:H - A slab use-after-free in the krxrpcio I/O thread (see the KASAN report in the commit) can oops or panic the kernel and bring down all AFS and RxRPC service on the host.

Product Status

Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 39ba6af83a7f9dee3e6a7916f41a48bcbda54eba to 3afb988fd0411707bdafb9b321086fff0da28aae (excl.)
  • affected from 40e8b52fe8c8ab6920ea5f59c5469b6918cce624 to c7f77a11a1e719192c7262aad38a3919aec62c21 (excl.)
  • affected from 40e8b52fe8c8ab6920ea5f59c5469b6918cce624 to 7f7f5589d048821dea316cbac9b37d27eaf7530e (excl.)
  • affected from 40e8b52fe8c8ab6920ea5f59c5469b6918cce624 to ba0623fc19a424f4745394c499f9f28a8d88d397 (excl.)
  • affected from 6.12.101 to 6.12.111 (excl.)
Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: affected
  • Version 6.15 is affected
  • unaffected from 0 to 6.15 (excl.)
  • unaffected from 6.12.111 to 6.12.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.18.53 to 6.18.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.2.7 to 7.2.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.3-rc3 to * (incl.)

References