CVE-2026-23248 (GCVE-0-2026-23248)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2026-03-18 10:05
Modified
2026-04-13 06:03
Severity ?
VLAI Severity ?
EPSS score ?
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
perf/core: Fix refcount bug and potential UAF in perf_mmap
Syzkaller reported a refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free warning
in perf_mmap.
The issue is caused by a race condition between a failing mmap() setup
and a concurrent mmap() on a dependent event (e.g., using output
redirection).
In perf_mmap(), the ring_buffer (rb) is allocated and assigned to
event->rb with the mmap_mutex held. The mutex is then released to
perform map_range().
If map_range() fails, perf_mmap_close() is called to clean up.
However, since the mutex was dropped, another thread attaching to
this event (via inherited events or output redirection) can acquire
the mutex, observe the valid event->rb pointer, and attempt to
increment its reference count. If the cleanup path has already
dropped the reference count to zero, this results in a
use-after-free or refcount saturation warning.
Fix this by extending the scope of mmap_mutex to cover the
map_range() call. This ensures that the ring buffer initialization
and mapping (or cleanup on failure) happens atomically effectively,
preventing other threads from accessing a half-initialized or
dying ring buffer.
References
Impacted products
{
"containers": {
"cna": {
"affected": [
{
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"kernel/events/core.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"lessThan": "c27dea9f50ed525facb62ef647dddc4722456e07",
"status": "affected",
"version": "b709eb872e19a19607bbb6d2975bc264d59735cf",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "ac7ecb65af170a7fc193e7bd8be15dac84ec6a56",
"status": "affected",
"version": "b709eb872e19a19607bbb6d2975bc264d59735cf",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "77de62ad3de3967818c3dbe656b7336ebee461d2",
"status": "affected",
"version": "b709eb872e19a19607bbb6d2975bc264d59735cf",
"versionType": "git"
}
]
},
{
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"kernel/events/core.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.14"
},
{
"lessThan": "6.14",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.18.17",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.19.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.19.7",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.0",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
}
]
}
],
"cpeApplicability": [
{
"nodes": [
{
"cpeMatch": [
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.18.17",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.14",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.19.7",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.14",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "7.0",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.14",
"vulnerable": true
}
],
"negate": false,
"operator": "OR"
}
]
}
],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nperf/core: Fix refcount bug and potential UAF in perf_mmap\n\nSyzkaller reported a refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free warning\nin perf_mmap.\n\nThe issue is caused by a race condition between a failing mmap() setup\nand a concurrent mmap() on a dependent event (e.g., using output\nredirection).\n\nIn perf_mmap(), the ring_buffer (rb) is allocated and assigned to\nevent-\u003erb with the mmap_mutex held. The mutex is then released to\nperform map_range().\n\nIf map_range() fails, perf_mmap_close() is called to clean up.\nHowever, since the mutex was dropped, another thread attaching to\nthis event (via inherited events or output redirection) can acquire\nthe mutex, observe the valid event-\u003erb pointer, and attempt to\nincrement its reference count. If the cleanup path has already\ndropped the reference count to zero, this results in a\nuse-after-free or refcount saturation warning.\n\nFix this by extending the scope of mmap_mutex to cover the\nmap_range() call. This ensures that the ring buffer initialization\nand mapping (or cleanup on failure) happens atomically effectively,\npreventing other threads from accessing a half-initialized or\ndying ring buffer."
}
],
"metrics": [
{
"cvssV3_1": {
"baseScore": 7.8,
"baseSeverity": "HIGH",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"version": "3.1"
}
}
],
"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-04-13T06:03:06.223Z",
"orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"shortName": "Linux"
},
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c27dea9f50ed525facb62ef647dddc4722456e07"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac7ecb65af170a7fc193e7bd8be15dac84ec6a56"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/77de62ad3de3967818c3dbe656b7336ebee461d2"
}
],
"title": "perf/core: Fix refcount bug and potential UAF in perf_mmap",
"x_generator": {
"engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
}
}
},
"cveMetadata": {
"assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"assignerShortName": "Linux",
"cveId": "CVE-2026-23248",
"datePublished": "2026-03-18T10:05:10.070Z",
"dateReserved": "2026-01-13T15:37:45.989Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-04-13T06:03:06.223Z",
"state": "PUBLISHED"
},
"dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
"dataVersion": "5.2"
}
Loading…
Loading…
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or seen somewhere by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability is confirmed from an analyst perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: This vulnerability was exploited and seen by the user reporting the sighting.
- Patched: This vulnerability was successfully patched by the user reporting the sighting.
- Not exploited: This vulnerability was not exploited or seen by the user reporting the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expresses doubt about the veracity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: This vulnerability was not successfully patched by the user reporting the sighting.
Loading…
Loading…