CVE-2026-74264

Received Received - Intake

Race Condition in Linux Kernel Netdev Watchdog Leading to List Corruption

Publication date: 2026-08-15

Last updated on: 2026-08-17

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: watchdog: fix refcount tracking races Blamed commit converted the untracked dev_hold()/dev_put() calls in the watchdog code to use the tracked dev_hold_track()/dev_put_track() (which were later renamed/interfaced to netdev_hold() and netdev_put()). By introducing dev->watchdog_dev_tracker to store the reference tracking information without adding synchronization between netdev_watchdog_up() and dev_watchdog(), it enabled the race condition where this pointer could be overwritten or freed concurrently, leading to the list corruption crash syzbot reported: list_del corruption, ffff888114a18c00->next is NULL kernel BUG at lib/list_debug.c:52 ! Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN PTI CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 91 Comm: kworker/u8:5 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(lazy) Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/09/2026 Workqueue: events_unbound linkwatch_event RIP: 0010:__list_del_entry_valid_or_report.cold+0x22/0x2a lib/list_debug.c:52 Call Trace: <TASK> __list_del_entry_valid include/linux/list.h:132 [inline] __list_del_entry include/linux/list.h:246 [inline] list_move_tail include/linux/list.h:341 [inline] ref_tracker_free+0x1a7/0x6c0 lib/ref_tracker.c:329 netdev_tracker_free include/linux/netdevice.h:4491 [inline] netdev_put include/linux/netdevice.h:4508 [inline] netdev_put include/linux/netdevice.h:4504 [inline] netdev_watchdog_down net/sched/sch_generic.c:600 [inline] dev_deactivate_many+0x28c/0xfe0 net/sched/sch_generic.c:1363 dev_deactivate+0x109/0x1d0 net/sched/sch_generic.c:1397 linkwatch_do_dev net/core/link_watch.c:184 [inline] linkwatch_do_dev+0xd3/0x120 net/core/link_watch.c:166 __linkwatch_run_queue+0x3a5/0x810 net/core/link_watch.c:240 linkwatch_event+0x8f/0xc0 net/core/link_watch.c:314 process_one_work+0xa0e/0x1980 kernel/workqueue.c:3314 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3397 [inline] worker_thread+0x5ef/0xe50 kernel/workqueue.c:3478 kthread+0x370/0x450 kernel/kthread.c:436 ret_from_fork+0x69a/0xc80 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245 This patch has three coordinated parts: 1) Add dev->watchdog_lock and dev->watchdog_ref_held to serialize watchdog operations. 2) Remove netdev_watchdog_up() call from netif_carrier_on(): This ensures netdev_watchdog_up() is only called from process/BH context (via linkwatch workqueue dev_activate()), allowing us to use spin_lock_bh() for synchronization. 3) Synchronize watchdog up and watchdog timer: Protect netdev_watchdog_up() with tx_global_lock and watchdog_lock. Only allocate a new tracker in netdev_watchdog_up() if one is not already present. In dev_watchdog(), ensure we don't release the tracker if the timer was rescheduled either by dev_watchdog() itself or concurrently by netdev_watchdog_up().

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Meta Information

Published

2026-08-15

Last Modified

2026-08-17

Generated

2026-09-04

AI Q&A

2026-08-15

EPSS Evaluated

2026-09-03

NVD

CVE-2026-74264

EUVD

EUVD-2026-59411

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
linux	linux_kernel	*

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This is a Linux kernel vulnerability where a race condition in network device watchdog handling leads to list corruption and kernel crashes. The issue stems from improper synchronization when tracking reference counts for network devices, causing a crash with a message like 'list_del corruption' and a kernel BUG.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability is specific to the Linux kernel's network watchdog subsystem and may cause kernel crashes due to list corruption. Detection typically requires kernel logs showing crashes like 'list_del corruption' or 'kernel BUG at lib/list_debug.c'. Check system logs with 'dmesg | grep -i list_del' or 'journalctl -k | grep -i BUG'.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause system instability, crashes, or denial of service by corrupting kernel data structures. It may lead to unexpected reboots or system hangs, particularly when network interfaces are under heavy load or during rapid state changes.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability is a kernel-level issue in the Linux networking subsystem that could lead to system crashes due to list corruption. It does not directly affect compliance with standards like GDPR or HIPAA, as those focus on data protection, privacy, and security controls rather than kernel stability. However, system crashes could indirectly impact compliance by disrupting services handling sensitive data.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply the kernel patch that introduces synchronization mechanisms (dev->watchdog_lock, dev->watchdog_ref_held) and ensures proper tracker handling. Update to a patched kernel version. If immediate patching is not possible, avoid triggering network watchdog events by disabling linkwatch events temporarily as a workaround.

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