In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net/sched: serialize qdisc_rtab_list against concurrent get/put

qdisc_get_rtab() and qdisc_put_rtab() mutate the process-global singly
linked list qdisc_rtab_list and a plain non-atomic 'int refcnt' with no
lock. This was only safe because every caller historically held the RTNL
mutex, which serialized all rate-table lookups, inserts and frees.

That invariant no longer holds. cls_flower sets
TCF_PROTO_OPS_DOIT_UNLOCKED, so tc_new_tfilter() keeps rtnl_held == false
for it and sets TCA_ACT_FLAGS_NO_RTNL. That flag propagates through
tcf_exts_validate_ex() -> tcf_action_init() -> tcf_action_init_1() ->
tcf_police_init(), which calls qdisc_get_rtab()/qdisc_put_rtab() with the
RTNL mutex NOT held. Two RTM_NEWTFILTER requests on different CPUs, each
adding a flower filter with a police action carrying the same rate, then
race on qdisc_rtab_list and on the non-atomic refcnt, leading to a
use-after-free / double-free of the kmalloc-2k struct qdisc_rate_table.
qdisc_rtab_list is a single global (not per-netns), so the corrupted
object is shared system-wide.

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in qdisc_put_rtab+0x12f/0x160
qdisc_put_rtab+0x12f/0x160
tcf_police_init+0xda9/0x1590
tcf_action_init_1+0x460/0x6b0
tcf_action_init+0x439/0xa40
tcf_exts_validate_ex+0x42d/0x550
fl_change+0xddd/0x7da0
tc_new_tfilter+0xaa7/0x2420
rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x95e/0xe90
which belongs to the cache kmalloc-2k of size 2048

Protect qdisc_rtab_list and the refcount with a dedicated spinlock. The
(sleeping, GFP_KERNEL) allocation in qdisc_get_rtab() is performed before
taking the lock; if a concurrent inserter added an identical table in the
meantime the freshly allocated one is freed under the lock, so no
duplicate is leaked. qdisc_put_rtab() now decrements the refcount and
unlinks under the same lock.

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4777-1 linux security update
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-6466-1 linux security update
Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 13:15:00 +0000


Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-362
CWE-415
CWE-416

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 22:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 4.1, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}


Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-364
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 4.1, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

threat_severity

Important


Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-362
CWE-415
CWE-416

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 12:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: serialize qdisc_rtab_list against concurrent get/put qdisc_get_rtab() and qdisc_put_rtab() mutate the process-global singly linked list qdisc_rtab_list and a plain non-atomic 'int refcnt' with no lock. This was only safe because every caller historically held the RTNL mutex, which serialized all rate-table lookups, inserts and frees. That invariant no longer holds. cls_flower sets TCF_PROTO_OPS_DOIT_UNLOCKED, so tc_new_tfilter() keeps rtnl_held == false for it and sets TCA_ACT_FLAGS_NO_RTNL. That flag propagates through tcf_exts_validate_ex() -> tcf_action_init() -> tcf_action_init_1() -> tcf_police_init(), which calls qdisc_get_rtab()/qdisc_put_rtab() with the RTNL mutex NOT held. Two RTM_NEWTFILTER requests on different CPUs, each adding a flower filter with a police action carrying the same rate, then race on qdisc_rtab_list and on the non-atomic refcnt, leading to a use-after-free / double-free of the kmalloc-2k struct qdisc_rate_table. qdisc_rtab_list is a single global (not per-netns), so the corrupted object is shared system-wide. BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in qdisc_put_rtab+0x12f/0x160 qdisc_put_rtab+0x12f/0x160 tcf_police_init+0xda9/0x1590 tcf_action_init_1+0x460/0x6b0 tcf_action_init+0x439/0xa40 tcf_exts_validate_ex+0x42d/0x550 fl_change+0xddd/0x7da0 tc_new_tfilter+0xaa7/0x2420 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x95e/0xe90 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-2k of size 2048 Protect qdisc_rtab_list and the refcount with a dedicated spinlock. The (sleeping, GFP_KERNEL) allocation in qdisc_get_rtab() is performed before taking the lock; if a concurrent inserter added an identical table in the meantime the freshly allocated one is freed under the lock, so no duplicate is leaked. qdisc_put_rtab() now decrements the refcount and unlinks under the same lock.
Title net/sched: serialize qdisc_rtab_list against concurrent get/put
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-23T12:45:55.796Z

Reserved: 2026-07-30T09:28:09.370Z

Link: CVE-2026-68138

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-10T13:19:59.410

Modified: 2026-08-23T13:16:33.780

Link: CVE-2026-68138

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Important

Publid Date: 2026-08-10T11:59:01Z

Links: CVE-2026-68138 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-08-14T01:45:08Z

Weaknesses