CVE-2026-74605
Received Received - Intake

eventfs Inode Use-After-Free in Linux Kernel

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-74605, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-08-22

Last updated on: 2026-08-25

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: eventfs: Use children field for rcu head and add memory barriers When an eventfs inode is freed, it sets ei->is_freed and then uses its ei->list to add it to the srcu link list as the list field is a union with the rcu list head. As the ei->list is used to iterate over an SRCU protected list without taking the eventfs_mutex, there's nothing stopping the iteration over that list to see the ei->rcu instead of the ei->list and it will read a corrupt target. To fix this, change the union of the rcu list head with the children list. On freeing the eventfs inode, set the is_free and execute a smp_wmb() before adding the eventfs inode to the SRCU list. On iteration of the ei->children list, at the start, execute a smp_rmb() and then read the is_freed of the ei to see if the children list is still valid. If is_freed is set, then the ei_child read is not valid and the loop should exit immediately.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
Percentile:

Meta Information

Published
2026-08-22
Last Modified
2026-08-25
Generated
2026-09-12
AI Q&A
2026-08-22
EPSS Evaluated
2026-09-10
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel *

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
CWE Icon
KEV
KEV Icon
CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

Attack-Flow Graph

AI Quick Actions

Instant insights powered by AI
Executive Summary

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel involves a race condition in the eventfs inode cleanup process. When an eventfs inode is freed, it incorrectly uses a union between the rcu list head and the children list, leading to potential corruption during SRCU-protected list iteration. The fix involves separating these fields and adding memory barriers to ensure proper synchronization.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability is specific to the Linux kernel's eventfs component and requires kernel-level inspection. Detection involves checking kernel logs for related errors or verifying the presence of the patched code. Commands like 'dmesg | grep eventfs' or inspecting kernel version with 'uname -r' may help identify affected systems.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability could lead to kernel memory corruption or crashes if exploited. It may cause system instability, data corruption, or privilege escalation if an attacker triggers the race condition during inode freeing and list iteration.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability does not directly affect compliance with standards like GDPR or HIPAA as it is a low-level Linux kernel memory management issue. Compliance impacts would depend on whether the affected kernel is used in systems handling regulated data, but the vulnerability itself is not a compliance violation.

Mitigation Strategies

Update your Linux kernel to the latest patched version to resolve the eventfs inode corruption issue. Monitor system logs for eventfs-related errors or crashes that may indicate exploitation attempts.

Chat Assistant

Ask questions about this CVE
Hi! I’m here to help you understand CVE-2026-74605. Ask me anything about the vulnerability, its impact, or mitigation strategies.
0/70

EPSS Chart