CVE-2026-31504
net: fix fanout UAF in packet_release() via NETDEV_UP race
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: fix fanout UAF in packet_release() via NETDEV_UP race
`packet_release()` has a race window where `NETDEV_UP` can re-register a
socket into a fanout group's `arr[]` array. The re-registration is not
cleaned up by `fanout_release()`, leaving a dangling pointer in the fanout
array.
`packet_release()` does NOT zero `po->num` in its `bind_lock` section.
After releasing `bind_lock`, `po->num` is still non-zero and `po->ifindex`
still matches the bound device. A concurrent `packet_notifier(NETDEV_UP)`
that already found the socket in `sklist` can re-register the hook.
For fanout sockets, this re-registration calls `__fanout_link(sk, po)`
which adds the socket back into `f->arr[]` and increments `f->num_members`,
but does NOT increment `f->sk_ref`.
The fix sets `po->num` to zero in `packet_release` while `bind_lock` is
held to prevent NETDEV_UP from linking, preventing the race window.
This bug was found following an additional audit with Claude Code based
on CVE-2025-38617.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected products
Linux · LinuxWant to know if your infrastructure is exposed to this?
Talk to TrueHacking →References
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b4c03f8892d955385c202009af7485364731bb9https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/42156f93d123436f2a27c468f18c966b7e5db796https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/42cfd7898eeed290c9fb73f732af1f7d6b0a703ehttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/654386baef228c2992dbf604c819e4c7c35fc71bhttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75fe6db23705a1d55160081f7b37db9665b1880bhttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ceccbfc6de720ad633519a226715989cfb065af1https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0c7cdc15fdf8c4f91aca1928e52295d175b6ec6https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee642b1962caa9aa231c01abbd58bc453ae6b66e