SB20261007132 - Use-after-free in Linux kernel xfrm

Description

This security bulletin contains information about 1 vulnerability.

1) Use-after-free (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-98229)

CWE-ID: CWE-416 - Use After Free

CVSSv4: 0 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to cause the kernel to dereference freed memory.

The vulnerability exists due to use-after-free in xfrm_input() when receive-side processing resets the packet's security path before the function finishes accessing the associated XFRM state. A remote attacker can send packets processed during concurrent deletion of the associated state to cause the kernel to dereference freed memory.

The race requires secpath_reset() to release the last state reference. Relevant paths include VTI receive processing, cross-network-namespace packets on XFRM interfaces, and the XFRM_MAX_DEPTH error path.

Remediation

Install update from vendor's website.

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/148db154066b066616b82c12d373e786eba1f96a
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/35de97850987b3d022ed17df5b2577242e746daf
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3cf5cdecd99c9c186a5ea518d93bbf3045b6e3aa
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/537a5ae18b2be70f8eb0aca843682e81a69aab91