Use-after-free in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-74479

 

Use-after-free in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-74479

Published: August 16, 2026


Vulnerability identifier: #VU143306
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4: 6.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-74479
CWE-ID: CWE-416
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability: No public exploit available

Vulnerability details

The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service.

The vulnerability exists due to a use-after-free in the pktgen proc entry handling in net/core/pktgen.c when concurrently removing and renaming pktgen devices. A local user can trigger a race condition involving proc_remove() on a stale proc_dir_entry to cause a denial of service.

The issue occurs because pktgen_change_name() and pktgen_remove_device() access the same proc entry with inconsistent locking, and exploitation requires winning a race between those paths.


Affected software

Linux kernel
Debian Linux
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 LTSS Extended
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching
kgraft-patch-4_12_14-122_328-default
dlm-kmp-default
kernel-default-man
kernel-macros
kernel-devel
kernel-source
kernel-default-devel-debuginfo
kernel-default-base
kernel-default-devel
cluster-md-kmp-default
gfs2-kmp-default
ocfs2-kmp-default-debuginfo
gfs2-kmp-default-debuginfo
ocfs2-kmp-default
kernel-default-base-debuginfo
dlm-kmp-default-debuginfo
cluster-md-kmp-default-debuginfo
kernel-syms
kernel-default-kgraft
kernel-default-debuginfo
kernel-default-kgraft-devel
kernel-default-debugsource
kernel-default
linux (Debian package)

How to mitigate CVE-2026-74479

Install security update from vendor's repository.

Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
kgraft-patch-4_12_14-122_328-default - update to 1-8.5.1
dlm-kmp-default - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-default-man - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-macros - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-devel - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-source - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-default-devel-debuginfo - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-default-base - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-default-devel - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
cluster-md-kmp-default - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
gfs2-kmp-default - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
ocfs2-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
gfs2-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
ocfs2-kmp-default - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-default-base-debuginfo - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
dlm-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
cluster-md-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-syms - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-default-kgraft - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-default-debuginfo - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-default-kgraft-devel - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-default-debugsource - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
kernel-default - update to 4.12.14-122.328.1
linux (Debian package) - update to 6.12.105-1

External References

Related Security Bulletins