SOC status:Duty analyst on shift

UK Cyber Defence
VulnerabilityReceived

CVE-2026-72493

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: serialize netif_running() check in enqueue_to_backlog() Syzbot reported a KASAN slab-use-after-free in fib_rules_lookup().

CRITICAL 9.9EPSS 0.40%

Does this matter?

High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.40%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: serialize netif_running() check in enqueue_to_backlog() Syzbot reported a KASAN slab-use-after-free in fib_rules_lookup(). The root cause is a race condition where packets can escape the backlog flushing during device unregistration (e.g., during netns exit). Commit e9e4dd3267d0 ("net: do not process device backlog during unregistration") introduced a lockless netif_running() check in enqueue_to_backlog() to prevent queuing packets to an unregistering device. However, this creates a TOCTOU race window. A lockless transmitter (like veth_xmit) can pass the check before dev_close() clears IFF_UP. If the transmitter is then delayed, flush_all_backlogs() can run and finish before the transmitter grabs the backlog lock and queues the packet. The packet then escapes the flush and triggers UAF later when processed. Fix this by moving the netif_running() check inside the backlog lock. This serializes the check with the flush work (which also grabs the lock). We then either queue the packet before the flush runs (so it gets flushed), or check netif_running() after the flush/close completes (so it gets dropped).

CVSS 3.1
9.9 CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS
0.40% probability · 34th percentile
Public exploits
None in Exploit-DB
CISA KEV
Not listed
Source
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
EPSS trend
0%3%5%26 October 2026: 0.40%26 October 202626 October 2026

EPSS 0.4% since 26 October 2026; no change recorded yet. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.

Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.