CVE-2026-43402

Full vulnerability record from the local CVENow database.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kthread: consolidate kthread exit paths to prevent use-after-free Guillaume reported crashes via corrupted RCU callback function pointers during KUnit testing. The crash was traced back to the pidfs rhashtable conversion which replaced the 24-byte rb_node with an 8-byte rhash_head in struct pid, shrinking it from 160 to 144 bytes. struct kthread (without CONFIG_BLK_CGROUP) is also 144 bytes. With CONFIG_SLAB_MERGE_DEFAULT and SLAB_HWCACHE_ALIGN both round up to 192 bytes and share the same slab cache. struct pid.rcu.func and struct kthread.affinity_node both sit at offset 0x78. When a kthread exits via make_task_dead() it bypasses kthread_exit() and misses the affinity_node cleanup. free_kthread_struct() frees the memory while the node is still linked into the global kthread_affinity_list. A subsequent list_del() by another kthread writes through dangling list pointers into the freed and reused memory, corrupting the pid's rcu.func pointer. Instead of patching free_kthread_struct() to handle the missed cleanup, consolidate all kthread exit paths. Turn kthread_exit() into a macro that calls do_exit() and add kthread_do_exit() which is called from do_exit() for any task with PF_KTHREAD set. This guarantees that kthread-specific cleanup always happens regardless of the exit path - make_task_dead(), direct do_exit(), or kthread_exit(). Replace __to_kthread() with a new tsk_is_kthread() accessor in the public header. Export do_exit() since module code using the kthread_exit() macro now needs it directly.

Severity

CRITICAL

CVSS score

9.8 (v3.1)

Vulnerability status

Modified

Source identifier

416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Published

2026-05-08 15:16:51.670000

Last modified

2026-10-19 20:18:16.083000

View original CVE JSON

{
  "id": "CVE-2026-43402",
  "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
  "published": "2026-05-08T15:16:51.670",
  "lastModified": "2026-10-19T20:18:16.083",
  "vulnStatus": "Modified",
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nkthread: consolidate kthread exit paths to prevent use-after-free\n\nGuillaume reported crashes via corrupted RCU callback function pointers\nduring KUnit testing. The crash was traced back to the pidfs rhashtable\nconversion which replaced the 24-byte rb_node with an 8-byte rhash_head\nin struct pid, shrinking it from 160 to 144 bytes.\n\nstruct kthread (without CONFIG_BLK_CGROUP) is also 144 bytes. With\nCONFIG_SLAB_MERGE_DEFAULT and SLAB_HWCACHE_ALIGN both round up to\n192 bytes and share the same slab cache. struct pid.rcu.func and\nstruct kthread.affinity_node both sit at offset 0x78.\n\nWhen a kthread exits via make_task_dead() it bypasses kthread_exit() and\nmisses the affinity_node cleanup. free_kthread_struct() frees the memory\nwhile the node is still linked into the global kthread_affinity_list. A\nsubsequent list_del() by another kthread writes through dangling list\npointers into the freed and reused memory, corrupting the pid's\nrcu.func pointer.\n\nInstead of patching free_kthread_struct() to handle the missed cleanup,\nconsolidate all kthread exit paths. Turn kthread_exit() into a macro\nthat calls do_exit() and add kthread_do_exit() which is called from\ndo_exit() for any task with PF_KTHREAD set. This guarantees that\nkthread-specific cleanup always happens regardless of the exit path -\nmake_task_dead(), direct do_exit(), or kthread_exit().\n\nReplace __to_kthread() with a new tsk_is_kthread() accessor in the\npublic header. Export do_exit() since module code using the\nkthread_exit() macro now needs it directly."
    }
  ],
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "programFiles": [
            "include/linux/kthread.h",
            "kernel/exit.c",
            "kernel/kthread.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "4d13f4304fa43471bfea101658a11feec7b28ac0",
              "lessThan": "4729c7b00a347fd37d0cbc265b85f2884c3e06b6",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "4d13f4304fa43471bfea101658a11feec7b28ac0",
              "lessThan": "5a591d7a5e48d30100943940a30a6ab41b15c672",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "4d13f4304fa43471bfea101658a11feec7b28ac0",
              "lessThan": "28aaa9c39945b7925a1cc1d513c8f21ed38f5e4f",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "programFiles": [
            "include/linux/kthread.h",
            "kernel/exit.c",
            "kernel/kthread.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "6.14",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "0",
              "lessThan": "6.14",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.18.19",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.19.9",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.19.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "7.0",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
              "status": "unaffected"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "type": "Secondary",
        "cvssData": {
          "version": "3.1",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
          "baseScore": 9.8,
          "baseSeverity": "CRITICAL",
          "attackVector": "NETWORK",
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
          "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
          "availabilityImpact": "HIGH"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 3.9,
        "impactScore": 5.9
      }
    ],
    "ssvcV203": [
      {
        "source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
        "ssvcData": {
          "timestamp": "2026-10-16T15:17:02.801558Z",
          "id": "CVE-2026-43402",
          "options": [
            {
              "exploitation": "none"
            },
            {
              "automatable": "yes"
            },
            {
              "technicalImpact": "total"
            }
          ],
          "role": "CISA Coordinator",
          "version": "2.0.3"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "weaknesses": [
    {
      "source": "[email protected]",
      "type": "Primary",
      "description": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-416"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
      "type": "Secondary",
      "description": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-416"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "configurations": [
    {
      "nodes": [
        {
          "operator": "OR",
          "negate": false,
          "cpeMatch": [
            {
              "vulnerable": true,
              "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
              "versionStartIncluding": "6.14",
              "versionEndExcluding": "6.18.19",
              "matchCriteriaId": "7484E98E-61F0-4DCE-9DBF-83D2F75F99EB"
            },
            {
              "vulnerable": true,
              "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
              "versionStartIncluding": "6.19",
              "versionEndExcluding": "6.19.9",
              "matchCriteriaId": "E825E7C3-FEAC-4FD3-8A81-78D7387948C9"
            },
            {
              "vulnerable": true,
              "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*",
              "matchCriteriaId": "F253B622-8837-4245-BCE5-A7BF8FC76A16"
            },
            {
              "vulnerable": true,
              "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*",
              "matchCriteriaId": "4AE85AD8-4641-4E7C-A2F4-305E2CD9EE64"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/28aaa9c39945b7925a1cc1d513c8f21ed38f5e4f",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "tags": [
        "Patch"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4729c7b00a347fd37d0cbc265b85f2884c3e06b6",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "tags": [
        "Patch"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5a591d7a5e48d30100943940a30a6ab41b15c672",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "tags": [
        "Patch"
      ]
    }
  ]
}