CVE-2026-72069

Full vulnerability record from the local CVENow database.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: locking/rt: Fix the incorrect RCU protection in rt_spin_unlock() rt_spin_unlock() releases the RCU protection before unlocking the lock. That opens the door for the following UAF scenario: T1 T2 spin_lock(&p->lock); rcu_read_lock(); invalidate(p); p = rcu_dereference(ptr); rcu_assign_pointer(ptr, NULL); if (!p) return; spin_unlock(&p->lock); spin_lock(&p->lock) lock(&lock->lock); rcu_read_lock(); kfree_rcu(p); rcu_read_unlock(); .... spin_unlock(&p->lock) rcu_read_unlock(); // Ends grace period rcu_do_batch() kfree(p); UAF -> rt_mutex_cmpxchg_release(&lock->lock...) Regular spinlocks keep preemption disabled accross the unlock operation, which provides full RCU protection, but the RT substitution fails to resemble that. Same applies for the rwlock substitution. Move the rcu_read_unlock() invocation past the unlock operations to match the non-RT semantics. This makes it asymmetric vs. rt_xxx_lock(), but that's harmless as the caller needs to hold RCU read lock across the lock operation. The migrate_enable() call stays before the unlock operation because there is no per CPU operation in the unlock path which would require migration to be kept disabled.

Severity

CRITICAL

CVSS score

9.8 (v3.1)

Vulnerability status

Received

Source identifier

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

Published

2026-08-15 06:21:16.607000

Last modified

2026-10-19 22:17:25.740000

View original CVE JSON

{
  "id": "CVE-2026-72069",
  "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
  "published": "2026-08-15T06:21:16.607",
  "lastModified": "2026-10-19T22:17:25.740",
  "vulnStatus": "Received",
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nlocking/rt: Fix the incorrect RCU protection in rt_spin_unlock()\n\nrt_spin_unlock() releases the RCU protection before unlocking the\nlock. That opens the door for the following UAF scenario:\n\n T1\t\t\t\t\tT2\n spin_lock(&p->lock);\t\trcu_read_lock();\n invalidate(p);\t\t\tp = rcu_dereference(ptr);\n rcu_assign_pointer(ptr, NULL);\tif (!p) return;\n spin_unlock(&p->lock);\t\tspin_lock(&p->lock)\n \t\t\t\t   lock(&lock->lock);\n\t\t\t\t   rcu_read_lock();\n kfree_rcu(p);\t\t\trcu_read_unlock();\n\t\t\t\t....\n\t\t\t\tspin_unlock(&p->lock)\n\t\t\t\t  rcu_read_unlock(); // Ends grace period\n rcu_do_batch()\n   kfree(p);\n\t\t\t    UAF ->\t  rt_mutex_cmpxchg_release(&lock->lock...)\n\nRegular spinlocks keep preemption disabled accross the unlock operation,\nwhich provides full RCU protection, but the RT substitution fails to\nresemble that. Same applies for the rwlock substitution.\n\nMove the rcu_read_unlock() invocation past the unlock operations to match\nthe non-RT semantics. This makes it asymmetric vs. rt_xxx_lock(), but\nthat's harmless as the caller needs to hold RCU read lock across the lock\noperation. The migrate_enable() call stays before the unlock operation\nbecause there is no per CPU operation in the unlock path which would\nrequire migration to be kept disabled."
    }
  ],
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "programFiles": [
            "kernel/locking/spinlock_rt.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "0f383b6dc96e976dfbf2721b0bf10bd96103b341",
              "lessThan": "af28d801cd2db4cc7378554499bd4a5d84a5517e",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "0f383b6dc96e976dfbf2721b0bf10bd96103b341",
              "lessThan": "9d1fcd64ab81200e02b7a6db5eb1da8e244e8289",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "0f383b6dc96e976dfbf2721b0bf10bd96103b341",
              "lessThan": "3cfaac77b3c32ac3940df28866de263c3f45d24c",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "0f383b6dc96e976dfbf2721b0bf10bd96103b341",
              "lessThan": "1f0d56d3f1e88f20f6e46109402f8c15d59bac37",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "0f383b6dc96e976dfbf2721b0bf10bd96103b341",
              "lessThan": "633cadbc0b8323f5cc140a285d2432089dbb534e",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "0f383b6dc96e976dfbf2721b0bf10bd96103b341",
              "lessThan": "83f9fb561c1c3917e19f95523dd933c7d30291aa",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "0f383b6dc96e976dfbf2721b0bf10bd96103b341",
              "lessThan": "89038cc87d80c77e7aa6f42a64b2573b74af339f",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "programFiles": [
            "kernel/locking/spinlock_rt.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "5.15",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "0",
              "lessThan": "5.15",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "5.15.217",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "5.15.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.1.184",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.6.148",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.12.101",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.18.40",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "7.1.5",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.1.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "7.2",
              "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": "2026-10-16T15:51:20.973593Z",
          "id": "CVE-2026-72069",
          "options": [
            {
              "exploitation": "none"
            },
            {
              "automatable": "yes"
            },
            {
              "technicalImpact": "total"
            }
          ],
          "role": "CISA Coordinator",
          "version": "2.0.3"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "weaknesses": [
    {
      "source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
      "type": "Secondary",
      "description": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-416"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1f0d56d3f1e88f20f6e46109402f8c15d59bac37",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3cfaac77b3c32ac3940df28866de263c3f45d24c",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/633cadbc0b8323f5cc140a285d2432089dbb534e",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83f9fb561c1c3917e19f95523dd933c7d30291aa",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/89038cc87d80c77e7aa6f42a64b2573b74af339f",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9d1fcd64ab81200e02b7a6db5eb1da8e244e8289",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/af28d801cd2db4cc7378554499bd4a5d84a5517e",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    }
  ]
}