CVE-2026-64044 (GCVE-0-2026-64044)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2026-07-19 15:39
Modified
2026-08-05 12:38
Severity ?
7.8 (High) - CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ovpn: respect peer refcount in CMD_NEW_PEER error path ovpn_nl_peer_new_doit()'s error path calls ovpn_peer_release() directly rather than ovpn_peer_put(), bypassing the kref. The accompanying comment ("peer was not yet hashed, thus it is not used in any context") holds for UDP but not for TCP. For UDP, the ovpn_socket union uses the .ovpn arm and never points back at a peer; UDP encap_recv looks up peers via the not-yet-populated hashtables, so the new peer is unreachable until ovpn_peer_add() publishes it. For TCP, ovpn_socket_new() sets ovpn_sock->peer and ovpn_tcp_socket_attach() publishes ovpn_sock via rcu_assign_sk_user_data(). From that moment until ovpn_socket_release() detaches in the error path, the TCP fd is fully wired: userspace recvmsg / sendmsg / close / poll on the fd, as well as the strparser-driven ovpn_tcp_rcv() path, can reach the peer through sk_user_data -> ovpn_sock->peer and bump its refcount via ovpn_peer_hold(). ovpn_tcp_socket_wait_finish() (called inside ovpn_socket_release()) drains strparser and the tx work, but does not synchronize with userspace syscall callers that already hold a peer reference. If ovpn_nl_peer_modify() or ovpn_peer_add() returns an error while such a caller is in flight - notably an ovpn_tcp_recvmsg() blocked in __skb_recv_datagram() on peer->tcp.user_queue - the direct ovpn_peer_release() destroys the peer while the caller still holds the reference, and the eventual ovpn_peer_put() from that caller operates on freed memory. Replace the direct destructor call with ovpn_peer_put() so the kref correctly defers destruction until the last reference is dropped. In the common case where no concurrent user is present, behaviour is unchanged: the kref hits zero immediately and ovpn_peer_release_kref() runs the same destructor. With this conversion ovpn_peer_release() has no callers outside peer.c - ovpn_peer_release_kref() in the same translation unit is the only remaining user - so make it static and drop its declaration from peer.h.
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Version: 11851cbd60ea1e5abbd97619d69845ead99303d6
Version: 11851cbd60ea1e5abbd97619d69845ead99303d6
Version: 11851cbd60ea1e5abbd97619d69845ead99303d6
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/ovpn/netlink.c",
            "drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c",
            "drivers/net/ovpn/peer.h"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "8298834912d76dbc82c12b6b4ab7590ed2bb8ae5",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "11851cbd60ea1e5abbd97619d69845ead99303d6",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "0c3ef71879c0264de6c42463031d9e057da87840",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "11851cbd60ea1e5abbd97619d69845ead99303d6",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "1fef6614673ff0846d30acdeeaf3cf98bb5f6116",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "11851cbd60ea1e5abbd97619d69845ead99303d6",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/ovpn/netlink.c",
            "drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c",
            "drivers/net/ovpn/peer.h"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.16"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "6.16",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.18.34",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.0.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.0.11",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.1",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.18.34",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.16",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.0.11",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.16",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.1",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.16",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\novpn: respect peer refcount in CMD_NEW_PEER error path\n\novpn_nl_peer_new_doit()\u0027s error path calls ovpn_peer_release() directly\nrather than ovpn_peer_put(), bypassing the kref. The accompanying\ncomment (\"peer was not yet hashed, thus it is not used in any context\")\nholds for UDP but not for TCP.\n\nFor UDP, the ovpn_socket union uses the .ovpn arm and never points back\nat a peer; UDP encap_recv looks up peers via the not-yet-populated\nhashtables, so the new peer is unreachable until ovpn_peer_add()\npublishes it.\n\nFor TCP, ovpn_socket_new() sets ovpn_sock-\u003epeer and\novpn_tcp_socket_attach() publishes ovpn_sock via rcu_assign_sk_user_data().\nFrom that moment until ovpn_socket_release() detaches in the error path,\nthe TCP fd is fully wired: userspace recvmsg / sendmsg / close / poll\non the fd, as well as the strparser-driven ovpn_tcp_rcv() path, can\nreach the peer through sk_user_data -\u003e ovpn_sock-\u003epeer and bump its\nrefcount via ovpn_peer_hold().\n\novpn_tcp_socket_wait_finish() (called inside ovpn_socket_release())\ndrains strparser and the tx work, but does not synchronize with\nuserspace syscall callers that already hold a peer reference. If\novpn_nl_peer_modify() or ovpn_peer_add() returns an error while such\na caller is in flight - notably an ovpn_tcp_recvmsg() blocked in\n__skb_recv_datagram() on peer-\u003etcp.user_queue - the direct\novpn_peer_release() destroys the peer while the caller still holds\nthe reference, and the eventual ovpn_peer_put() from that caller\noperates on freed memory.\n\nReplace the direct destructor call with ovpn_peer_put() so the kref\ncorrectly defers destruction until the last reference is dropped.\nIn the common case where no concurrent user is present, behaviour is\nunchanged: the kref hits zero immediately and ovpn_peer_release_kref()\nruns the same destructor.\n\nWith this conversion ovpn_peer_release() has no callers outside peer.c\n- ovpn_peer_release_kref() in the same translation unit is the only\nremaining user - so make it static and drop its declaration from\npeer.h."
        }
      ],
      "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"
          },
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "AV:L - The bug is triggered from the OVPN_CMD_PEER_NEW genetlink handler reached only via local netlink syscalls; remote TCP data can participate in the race but cannot alone reach the premature ovpn_peer_release() error path.\nAC:L - Exploitation requires a race between a failing CMD_NEW_PEER netlink message and a concurrent local holder of a peer reference, and the attacker controls both sides by blocking recvmsg on the TCP fd while issuing the failing netlink command.\nPR:L - All OVPN genetlink operations require GENL_ADMIN_PERM (CAP_NET_ADMIN), and creating the ovpn interface requires the same capability, which an unprivileged user can obtain inside a user namespace.\nUI:N - No victim interaction is required; the attacker configures the ovpn interface, TCP socket, and concurrent threads themselves to trigger the error-path UAF.\nS:U - The UAF corrupts kernel heap memory and enables standard kernel privilege escalation within the same security authority, not a cross-boundary escape such as guest-to-host or IOMMU bypass.\nC:H - Use-after-free of struct ovpn_peer allows an attacker to read freed slab memory and obtain arbitrary kernel memory disclosure primitives.\nI:H - Use-after-free of struct ovpn_peer enables heap grooming and control of freed object contents, providing a path to arbitrary kernel memory writes and code execution.\nA:H - The UAF causes ovpn_peer_put() to operate on freed memory, which can trigger kernel oops, panic, or crash during reference decrements on corrupted kref state."
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T12:38:36.035Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8298834912d76dbc82c12b6b4ab7590ed2bb8ae5"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0c3ef71879c0264de6c42463031d9e057da87840"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1fef6614673ff0846d30acdeeaf3cf98bb5f6116"
        }
      ],
      "title": "ovpn: respect peer refcount in CMD_NEW_PEER error path",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-64044",
    "datePublished": "2026-07-19T15:39:29.869Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-07-19T07:54:57.029Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T12:38:36.035Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}


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