FKIE_CVE-2026-63803
Vulnerability from fkie_nvd - Published: 2026-07-19 12:16 - Updated: 2026-10-19 20:19
Severity
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
hdlc_ppp: sync per-proto timers before freeing hdlc state
Each PPP control protocol (LCP/IPCP/IPV6CP) embedded in struct ppp
registers a timer via timer_setup(). That struct ppp is the
hdlc->state allocation, which detach_hdlc_protocol() frees with kfree()
in both teardown paths: unregister_hdlc_device() and the re-attach inside
attach_hdlc_protocol().
The ppp proto never registered a .detach callback, so
detach_hdlc_protocol() performs no timer synchronization before the
kfree(). The only cancel, timer_delete(&proto->timer) in ppp_cp_event(),
is partial (it does not wait for a running callback) and only runs on the
->CLOSED transition; ppp_stop()/ppp_close() do not sync either. A
ppp_timer callback already executing (blocked on ppp->lock) survives the
kfree and then dereferences proto->state / ppp->lock in freed memory,
leading to a use-after-free.
Fix this by adding a .detach helper that calls timer_shutdown_sync() on
every per-proto timer. detach_hdlc_protocol() invokes proto->detach(dev)
before kfree(hdlc->state), so timer_shutdown_sync()
now runs on both free paths.
timer_shutdown_sync() is used instead of timer_delete_sync() because the
keepalive path re-arms the timer through add_timer()/mod_timer() and
shutdown blocks any re-activation during teardown.
Initialize the per-protocol timers in ppp_ioctl() when the protocol is
attached, and remove the now-redundant timer_setup() from ppp_start(), so
that the timers are initialized exactly once at attach time and
ppp_timer_release() never operates on uninitialized timer_list
structures. attach_hdlc_protocol() uses kmalloc() (not kzalloc), so
struct ppp's protos[i].timer is uninitialized garbage until the first
timer_setup(); without this init-at-attach, attaching the PPP protocol
without ever bringing the device up would leave timer_shutdown_sync()
operating on uninitialized memory in .detach. Moving the init out of
ppp_start() (which only runs on NETDEV_UP) into the attach path makes the
initialization unconditional and avoids initializing the same timer_list
twice.
This bug was found by static analysis.
References
Impacted products
| Vendor | Product | Version | |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | 2.6.12 | |
| linux | linux_kernel | 2.6.12 | |
| linux | linux_kernel | 2.6.12 | |
| linux | linux_kernel | 2.6.12 | |
| linux | linux_kernel | 2.6.12 |
{
"affected": [
{
"affectedData": [
{
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"drivers/net/wan/hdlc_ppp.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
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"status": "affected",
"version": "1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
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"status": "affected",
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"versionType": "git"
},
{
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"status": "affected",
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"versionType": "git"
},
{
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"versionType": "git"
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"versionType": "git"
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{
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"versionType": "git"
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"versionType": "git"
}
]
},
{
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"drivers/net/wan/hdlc_ppp.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "2.6.12"
},
{
"lessThan": "2.6.12",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "5.10.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "5.10.261",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "5.15.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "5.15.211",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.1.177",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.6.144",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.12.95",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.18.38",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "7.1.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.1.3",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.2",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
}
]
}
],
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}
],
"configurations": [
{
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"cveTags": [],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nhdlc_ppp: sync per-proto timers before freeing hdlc state\n\nEach PPP control protocol (LCP/IPCP/IPV6CP) embedded in struct ppp\nregisters a timer via timer_setup(). That struct ppp is the\nhdlc-\u003estate allocation, which detach_hdlc_protocol() frees with kfree()\nin both teardown paths: unregister_hdlc_device() and the re-attach inside\nattach_hdlc_protocol().\n\nThe ppp proto never registered a .detach callback, so\ndetach_hdlc_protocol() performs no timer synchronization before the\nkfree(). The only cancel, timer_delete(\u0026proto-\u003etimer) in ppp_cp_event(),\nis partial (it does not wait for a running callback) and only runs on the\n-\u003eCLOSED transition; ppp_stop()/ppp_close() do not sync either. A\nppp_timer callback already executing (blocked on ppp-\u003elock) survives the\nkfree and then dereferences proto-\u003estate / ppp-\u003elock in freed memory,\nleading to a use-after-free.\n\nFix this by adding a .detach helper that calls timer_shutdown_sync() on\nevery per-proto timer. detach_hdlc_protocol() invokes proto-\u003edetach(dev)\nbefore kfree(hdlc-\u003estate), so timer_shutdown_sync()\nnow runs on both free paths.\ntimer_shutdown_sync() is used instead of timer_delete_sync() because the\nkeepalive path re-arms the timer through add_timer()/mod_timer() and\nshutdown blocks any re-activation during teardown.\n\nInitialize the per-protocol timers in ppp_ioctl() when the protocol is\nattached, and remove the now-redundant timer_setup() from ppp_start(), so\nthat the timers are initialized exactly once at attach time and\nppp_timer_release() never operates on uninitialized timer_list\nstructures. attach_hdlc_protocol() uses kmalloc() (not kzalloc), so\nstruct ppp\u0027s protos[i].timer is uninitialized garbage until the first\ntimer_setup(); without this init-at-attach, attaching the PPP protocol\nwithout ever bringing the device up would leave timer_shutdown_sync()\noperating on uninitialized memory in .detach. Moving the init out of\nppp_start() (which only runs on NETDEV_UP) into the attach path makes the\ninitialization unconditional and avoids initializing the same timer_list\ntwice.\n\nThis bug was found by static analysis."
}
],
"id": "CVE-2026-63803",
"lastModified": "2026-10-19T20:19:20.867",
"metrics": {
"cvssMetricV31": [
{
"cvssData": {
"attackComplexity": "LOW",
"attackVector": "LOCAL",
"availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
"baseScore": 7.8,
"baseSeverity": "HIGH",
"confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
"integrityImpact": "HIGH",
"privilegesRequired": "LOW",
"scope": "UNCHANGED",
"userInteraction": "NONE",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"version": "3.1"
},
"exploitabilityScore": 1.8,
"impactScore": 5.9,
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"type": "Secondary"
}
],
"ssvcV203": [
{
"source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
"ssvcData": {
"id": "CVE-2026-63803",
"options": [
{
"exploitation": "none"
},
{
"automatable": "no"
},
{
"technicalImpact": "total"
}
],
"role": "CISA Coordinator",
"timestamp": "2026-10-16T15:30:49.056800Z",
"version": "2.0.3"
}
}
]
},
"published": "2026-07-19T12:16:52.980",
"references": [
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"tags": [
"Patch"
],
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/508a0139d3bf60f6a03d2fbfb63a89a9463d983a"
},
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"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ce8f9ddca0c9f217342a8b49efd309aa35b81a36"
}
],
"sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"vulnStatus": "Modified",
"weaknesses": [
{
"description": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "CWE-416"
}
],
"source": "nvd@nist.gov",
"type": "Primary"
},
{
"description": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "CWE-416"
}
],
"source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
"type": "Secondary"
}
]
}
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Nomenclature
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