CVE-2026-89762
Full vulnerability record from the local CVENow database.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: apparmor: fix cred UAF caused by begin_current_label_crit_section() AppArmor's begin_current_label_crit_section() is a scary function called from lots of LSM hooks (in particular VFS/socket-related ones) that checks if the label referenced by the current creds is marked FLAG_STALE, and if so, attempts to use aa_replace_current_label() to replace the creds with an updated version that uses a new label. The first problem with this is that it would directly lead to UAF of `struct cred` if anything in the kernel takes a pointer to the current creds and accesses these past a security hook invocation that replaces creds, like so: ``` const struct cred *cred = current_cred(); alloc_file_pseudo(...); uid_t uid = cred->euid; ``` I don't know if anything in the kernel actually does this, but I think it is very surprising that this pattern could lead to UAF. The second problem is that things go wrong when aa_replace_current_label() runs with overridden credentials. aa_replace_current_label() bails out if `current_cred() != current_real_cred()` (mirroring the check in proc_pid_attr_write()), but this check can't actually reliably detect overridden credentials because the overridden creds can be the same as the objective creds. So in approximately the following scenario, things go wrong: 1. task begins with <creds A> (as both objective and subjective creds), with refcount=2 2. task grabs an extra reference on <creds A> for overriding 3. task calls override_creds(<creds A>), which returns a pointer to the old subjective creds (<creds A>) 4. task enters AppArmor LSM hook 5. AppArmor checks that objective/subjective creds are equal 6. AppArmor replaces both cred pointers with <creds B> and drops 2 refs on <creds A> 7. task leaves AppArmor LSM hook 8. task calls revert_creds(<creds A>) 9. now task->cred is <creds A> while task->real_cred is <creds B>, but the task_struct logically holds two references to <creds B> 10. another task drops the extra reference on <creds A> that was used for overriding, refcount drops to 0 11. now task->real_cred points to freed creds At this point, any access to current_cred() will be UAF. I have a test case where I run aa-disable on a profile while a process using that profile is blocked on splice() from a FUSE passthrough file into a full pipe; after the profile update, the pipe becomes empty, splice() resumes, the credentials go out of sync, and a subsequent getuid() syscall results in a KASAN UAF splat. To fix this, instead of directly replacing creds, do it via task_work that will run at the end of the current syscall. (The point in time at which the cred replacement happens should have no correctness impact; it is just a performance optimization to avoid unnecessarily touching the refcount of the new label.) Note that AppArmor still performs direct cred replacements in the sb_pivotroot LSM hook after this change, and that direct cred replacements can still happen in VFS ->write() callbacks via proc_pid_attr_write(). There are two options for what to do with aa_dup_task_ctx(): Either explicitly reset new->label_replacement_pending after the entire aa_task_ctx has been copied, or switch to manually copying members over. I am switching to manually copying members over because that should make bugs more obvious.
View original CVE JSON
{
"id": "CVE-2026-89762",
"sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"published": "2026-09-11T20:20:07.377",
"lastModified": "2026-10-30T13:20:28.670",
"vulnStatus": "Received",
"cveTags": [],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\napparmor: fix cred UAF caused by begin_current_label_crit_section()\n\nAppArmor's begin_current_label_crit_section() is a scary function called\nfrom lots of LSM hooks (in particular VFS/socket-related ones) that checks\nif the label referenced by the current creds is marked FLAG_STALE, and if\nso, attempts to use aa_replace_current_label() to replace the creds with an\nupdated version that uses a new label.\n\nThe first problem with this is that it would directly lead to UAF of\n`struct cred` if anything in the kernel takes a pointer to the current\ncreds and accesses these past a security hook invocation that replaces\ncreds, like so:\n```\nconst struct cred *cred = current_cred();\nalloc_file_pseudo(...);\nuid_t uid = cred->euid;\n```\nI don't know if anything in the kernel actually does this, but I think it\nis very surprising that this pattern could lead to UAF.\n\nThe second problem is that things go wrong when aa_replace_current_label()\nruns with overridden credentials. aa_replace_current_label() bails out if\n`current_cred() != current_real_cred()` (mirroring the check in\nproc_pid_attr_write()), but this check can't actually reliably detect\noverridden credentials because the overridden creds can be the same as the\nobjective creds.\n\nSo in approximately the following scenario, things go wrong:\n\n1. task begins with <creds A> (as both objective and subjective creds),\n with refcount=2\n2. task grabs an extra reference on <creds A> for overriding\n3. task calls override_creds(<creds A>), which returns a pointer to the old\n subjective creds (<creds A>)\n4. task enters AppArmor LSM hook\n5. AppArmor checks that objective/subjective creds are equal\n6. AppArmor replaces both cred pointers with <creds B> and drops 2 refs on\n <creds A>\n7. task leaves AppArmor LSM hook\n8. task calls revert_creds(<creds A>)\n9. now task->cred is <creds A> while task->real_cred is <creds B>, but the\n task_struct logically holds two references to <creds B>\n10. another task drops the extra reference on <creds A> that was used for\n overriding, refcount drops to 0\n11. now task->real_cred points to freed creds\n\nAt this point, any access to current_cred() will be UAF.\n\nI have a test case where I run aa-disable on a profile while a process\nusing that profile is blocked on splice() from a FUSE passthrough file into\na full pipe; after the profile update, the pipe becomes empty, splice()\nresumes, the credentials go out of sync, and a subsequent getuid() syscall\nresults in a KASAN UAF splat.\n\nTo fix this, instead of directly replacing creds, do it via task_work that\nwill run at the end of the current syscall. (The point in time at which the\ncred replacement happens should have no correctness impact; it is just a\nperformance optimization to avoid unnecessarily touching the refcount of\nthe new label.)\n\nNote that AppArmor still performs direct cred replacements in the\nsb_pivotroot LSM hook after this change, and that direct cred replacements\ncan still happen in VFS ->write() callbacks via proc_pid_attr_write().\n\nThere are two options for what to do with aa_dup_task_ctx(): Either\nexplicitly reset new->label_replacement_pending after the entire\naa_task_ctx has been copied, or switch to manually copying members over.\nI am switching to manually copying members over because that should make\nbugs more obvious."
}
],
"affected": [
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"affectedData": [
{
"vendor": "Linux",
"product": "Linux",
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"programFiles": [
"security/apparmor/include/cred.h",
"security/apparmor/include/task.h",
"security/apparmor/task.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"versions": [
{
"version": "c75afcd153f6147d3b094f45a1d87e5df7f4f053",
"lessThan": "42d0791f8aa90382c22dbe0443712c78d1e9d212",
"versionType": "git",
"status": "affected"
},
{
"version": "c75afcd153f6147d3b094f45a1d87e5df7f4f053",
"lessThan": "089f10b47843a86fa03a8c20799c9353660e5288",
"versionType": "git",
"status": "affected"
},
{
"version": "c75afcd153f6147d3b094f45a1d87e5df7f4f053",
"lessThan": "361488984d668235438faac28635f3632351407f",
"versionType": "git",
"status": "affected"
},
{
"version": "c75afcd153f6147d3b094f45a1d87e5df7f4f053",
"lessThan": "587a6a92b93ec314c583bbf747413af170d42540",
"versionType": "git",
"status": "affected"
},
{
"version": "c75afcd153f6147d3b094f45a1d87e5df7f4f053",
"lessThan": "580f777d6d9fd07fc034bd1aeba5c30fd48871a2",
"versionType": "git",
"status": "affected"
},
{
"version": "c75afcd153f6147d3b094f45a1d87e5df7f4f053",
"lessThan": "3f4ae5fab613dca01d6a2a8210dd832e009fcf47",
"versionType": "git",
"status": "affected"
}
]
},
{
"vendor": "Linux",
"product": "Linux",
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"programFiles": [
"security/apparmor/include/cred.h",
"security/apparmor/include/task.h",
"security/apparmor/task.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"versions": [
{
"version": "2.6.36",
"status": "affected"
},
{
"version": "0",
"lessThan": "2.6.36",
"versionType": "semver",
"status": "unaffected"
},
{
"version": "6.1.191",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.1.*",
"versionType": "semver",
"status": "unaffected"
},
{
"version": "6.6.160",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*",
"versionType": "semver",
"status": "unaffected"
},
{
"version": "6.12.109",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*",
"versionType": "semver",
"status": "unaffected"
},
{
"version": "6.18.50",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
"versionType": "semver",
"status": "unaffected"
},
{
"version": "7.2.4",
"lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
"versionType": "semver",
"status": "unaffected"
},
{
"version": "7.3",
"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:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"baseScore": 7.8,
"baseSeverity": "HIGH",
"attackVector": "LOCAL",
"attackComplexity": "LOW",
"privilegesRequired": "LOW",
"userInteraction": "NONE",
"scope": "UNCHANGED",
"confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
"integrityImpact": "HIGH",
"availabilityImpact": "HIGH"
},
"exploitabilityScore": 1.8,
"impactScore": 5.9
}
]
},
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/089f10b47843a86fa03a8c20799c9353660e5288",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/361488984d668235438faac28635f3632351407f",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3f4ae5fab613dca01d6a2a8210dd832e009fcf47",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/42d0791f8aa90382c22dbe0443712c78d1e9d212",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/580f777d6d9fd07fc034bd1aeba5c30fd48871a2",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/587a6a92b93ec314c583bbf747413af170d42540",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}
]
}