CVE-2026-80778
Received Received - Intake

Use-After-Free in Linux Kernel Futex PI Mechanism

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-80778, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-09-04

Last updated on: 2026-09-04

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: futex/pi: Reject cross-mm private futex owners A private futex key borrows the waiter's mm without taking an mm_users reference. Nevertheless, attach_to_pi_owner() currently accepts an owner from a different address space and copies the private key into the owner's PI state. When that owner exits, exit_pi_state_list() uses the saved key to find the hash bucket and acquires a reference to the waiter's private hash. If the last user of the waiter's mm exits concurrently, futex_hash_free() frees the hash while the owner still uses its bucket and reference. Prevent this by validating in attach_to_pi_owner() that, for private futexes, the owner mm and waiter mm are the same. Perform the check with the owner's pi_lock held and after validating owner::futex::state to serialize against a concurrent PI-state exit cleanup. [ tglx: Amended comment ]

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Meta Information

Published
2026-09-04
Last Modified
2026-09-04
Generated
2026-09-04
AI Q&A
2026-09-04
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

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

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

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Executive Summary

This is a Linux kernel vulnerability where a private futex key borrows the waiter's memory management (mm) without proper reference. The attach_to_pi_owner function incorrectly accepts an owner from a different address space, leading to a race condition when the owner exits. This can cause the futex hash to be freed while still in use, potentially causing system instability or crashes.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability could lead to system crashes, denial of service, or privilege escalation if exploited. It may allow an attacker to trigger a race condition in the kernel, causing unexpected behavior or instability in systems running vulnerable Linux kernel versions.

Mitigation Strategies

Update the Linux kernel to the latest patched version to resolve this vulnerability. Monitor official Linux kernel security advisories for patches and apply them promptly.

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