CVE-2026-63918 (GCVE-0-2026-63918)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-07-19 14:55 – Updated: 2026-07-20 13:41
VLAI
Title
l2tp: use refcount_inc_not_zero in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: l2tp: use refcount_inc_not_zero in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname A reader in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname() can return a pointer to a session whose refcount has reached zero. The getter takes its reference with plain refcount_inc(), but every other session getter in the same file (l2tp_v2_session_get, l2tp_v3_session_get, and the corresponding _get_next variants) uses refcount_inc_not_zero() because the IDR/RCU lookup can race with refcount_dec_and_test() -> l2tp_session_free() -> kfree_rcu(). The ifname getter is the only outlier; the inconsistency was raised on-list after 979c017803c4 ("l2tp: use list_del_rcu in l2tp_session_unhash"). A reader inside rcu_read_lock_bh() that matches session->ifname can be preempted between the strcmp() and the refcount_inc(). If the last reference drops on another CPU in that window, the reader's refcount_inc() runs on a counter that has reached zero. refcount_t catches the addition-on-zero, prints "refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free", saturates the counter, and returns the saturated pointer to the caller. Session memory is held live by the in-flight RCU read section, but the kfree_rcu() callback queued from l2tp_session_free() will free it once the grace period closes; a caller that dereferences the returned session past that point hits a slab-use-after-free. On PREEMPT_RT local_bh_disable() is a per-CPU sleeping lock and the preemption window is real; on stock PREEMPT kernels local_bh_disable() is a preempt_count increment that closes the cross-CPU race in practice (see below). Use refcount_inc_not_zero() and continue the list walk on failure, matching the other session getters in the file. The ifname getter is the only session getter in net/l2tp/ that still uses the bare refcount_inc() pattern; this change restores file-internal consistency. The success path is unchanged.
Severity
7.8 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Affected: abe7a1a7d0b69e63b1bca5f9531023a52336784f , < ee80455feffb9cb62b5b58715cabeff495e666b2 (git)
Affected: abe7a1a7d0b69e63b1bca5f9531023a52336784f , < 947013fd7c8c35dd5856557b215840098a3f67f8 (git)
Affected: abe7a1a7d0b69e63b1bca5f9531023a52336784f , < 782d60a6596aee9b29c2eecfa70033899278bf65 (git)
Affected: abe7a1a7d0b69e63b1bca5f9531023a52336784f , < 05f95729ca844704d15e49ce14868af4b403b32b (git)
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Linux Linux Affected: 6.12
Unaffected: 0 , < 6.12 (semver)
Unaffected: 6.12.93 , ≤ 6.12.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.18.35 , ≤ 6.18.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.0.12 , ≤ 7.0.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.1 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
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{
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          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nl2tp: use refcount_inc_not_zero in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname\n\nA reader in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname() can return a pointer to a\nsession whose refcount has reached zero. The getter takes its\nreference with plain refcount_inc(), but every other session getter\nin the same file (l2tp_v2_session_get, l2tp_v3_session_get, and the\ncorresponding _get_next variants) uses refcount_inc_not_zero()\nbecause the IDR/RCU lookup can race with refcount_dec_and_test() -\u003e\nl2tp_session_free() -\u003e kfree_rcu(). The ifname getter is the only\noutlier; the inconsistency was raised on-list after 979c017803c4\n(\"l2tp: use list_del_rcu in l2tp_session_unhash\").\n\nA reader inside rcu_read_lock_bh() that matches session-\u003eifname can\nbe preempted between the strcmp() and the refcount_inc(). If the\nlast reference drops on another CPU in that window, the reader\u0027s\nrefcount_inc() runs on a counter that has reached zero. refcount_t\ncatches the addition-on-zero, prints \"refcount_t: addition on 0;\nuse-after-free\", saturates the counter, and returns the saturated\npointer to the caller. Session memory is held live by the in-flight\nRCU read section, but the kfree_rcu() callback queued from\nl2tp_session_free() will free it once the grace period closes; a\ncaller that dereferences the returned session past that point hits\na slab-use-after-free. On PREEMPT_RT local_bh_disable() is a per-CPU\nsleeping lock and the preemption window is real; on stock PREEMPT\nkernels local_bh_disable() is a preempt_count increment that closes\nthe cross-CPU race in practice (see below).\n\nUse refcount_inc_not_zero() and continue the list walk on failure,\nmatching the other session getters in the file. The ifname getter\nis the only session getter in net/l2tp/ that still uses the bare\nrefcount_inc() pattern; this change restores file-internal\nconsistency. The success path is unchanged."
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/05f95729ca844704d15e49ce14868af4b403b32b"
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      "title": "l2tp: use refcount_inc_not_zero in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname",
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On PREEMPT_RT local_bh_disable() is a per-CPU\\nsleeping lock and the preemption window is real; on stock PREEMPT\\nkernels local_bh_disable() is a preempt_count increment that closes\\nthe cross-CPU race in practice (see below).\\n\\nUse refcount_inc_not_zero() and continue the list walk on failure,\\nmatching the other session getters in the file. The ifname getter\\nis the only session getter in net/l2tp/ that still uses the bare\\nrefcount_inc() pattern; this change restores file-internal\\nconsistency. 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  }
}



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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

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Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.


Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.