CVE-2026-72317 (GCVE-0-2026-72317)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2026-08-15 05:55
Modified
2026-08-17 05:42
Severity ?
VLAI Severity ?
EPSS score ?
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
SUNRPC: pin upper rpc_clnt across the TLS connect_worker
The TLS connect path has a use-after-free: nothing pins the
upper rpc_clnt across the delayed connect_worker. xs_connect()
stores task->tk_client in sock_xprt::clnt as a raw pointer
and queues the worker; for TLS-secured transports that worker
is xs_tcp_tls_setup_socket(), which reads several fields out
of the saved pointer (cl_timeout, cl_program, cl_prog,
cl_vers, cl_cred, cl_stats) to construct the args for the
inner handshake rpc_clnt.
The xprt does not reference the rpc_clnt; the rpc_clnt
references the xprt. xs_destroy() does cancel the
connect_worker, but it runs only when the xprt's refcount
drops to zero, which cannot happen until the rpc_clnt
releases its cl_xprt reference in rpc_free_client_work().
When a TLS handshake fails fatally (for example, an mTLS
mount whose client cert does not match the server), the
connecting task is woken with -EACCES and exits, the mount
caller invokes rpc_shutdown_client(), and the upper rpc_clnt
is freed before the queued connect_worker fires.
xs_tcp_tls_setup_socket() then dereferences the freed clnt,
producing the refcount_t underflow Michael Nemanov reported.
Take a reference on the upper rpc_clnt in xs_connect() for
TLS transports via a new rpc_hold_client() helper, and drop
it in the connect_worker's exit path with rpc_release_client().
The xprt_lock_connect() / xprt_unlock_connect() pairing
already serialises xs_connect() with xs_tcp_tls_setup_socket(),
so the take and release are balanced one-for-one.
The non-TLS connect worker (xs_tcp_setup_socket) never reads
sock_xprt::clnt, so leave that path alone and avoid the
clnt-holds-xprt-holds-clnt cycle that would otherwise prevent
xprt destruction.
References
Impacted products
{
"containers": {
"cna": {
"affected": [
{
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"include/linux/sunrpc/clnt.h",
"net/sunrpc/clnt.c",
"net/sunrpc/xprtsock.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
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"versionType": "git"
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"versionType": "git"
},
{
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"version": "75eb6af7acdf566c68d61e98e67ee2f235201c02",
"versionType": "git"
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{
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"versionType": "git"
}
]
},
{
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"include/linux/sunrpc/clnt.h",
"net/sunrpc/clnt.c",
"net/sunrpc/xprtsock.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.5"
},
{
"lessThan": "6.5",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.6.145",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.12.97",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.18.40",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "7.1.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.1.5",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.2",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
}
]
}
],
"cpeApplicability": [
{
"nodes": [
{
"cpeMatch": [
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.6.145",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.5",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.12.97",
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},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
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{
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}
],
"negate": false,
"operator": "OR"
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],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nSUNRPC: pin upper rpc_clnt across the TLS connect_worker\n\nThe TLS connect path has a use-after-free: nothing pins the\nupper rpc_clnt across the delayed connect_worker. xs_connect()\nstores task-\u003etk_client in sock_xprt::clnt as a raw pointer\nand queues the worker; for TLS-secured transports that worker\nis xs_tcp_tls_setup_socket(), which reads several fields out\nof the saved pointer (cl_timeout, cl_program, cl_prog,\ncl_vers, cl_cred, cl_stats) to construct the args for the\ninner handshake rpc_clnt.\n\nThe xprt does not reference the rpc_clnt; the rpc_clnt\nreferences the xprt. xs_destroy() does cancel the\nconnect_worker, but it runs only when the xprt\u0027s refcount\ndrops to zero, which cannot happen until the rpc_clnt\nreleases its cl_xprt reference in rpc_free_client_work().\nWhen a TLS handshake fails fatally (for example, an mTLS\nmount whose client cert does not match the server), the\nconnecting task is woken with -EACCES and exits, the mount\ncaller invokes rpc_shutdown_client(), and the upper rpc_clnt\nis freed before the queued connect_worker fires.\nxs_tcp_tls_setup_socket() then dereferences the freed clnt,\nproducing the refcount_t underflow Michael Nemanov reported.\n\nTake a reference on the upper rpc_clnt in xs_connect() for\nTLS transports via a new rpc_hold_client() helper, and drop\nit in the connect_worker\u0027s exit path with rpc_release_client().\nThe xprt_lock_connect() / xprt_unlock_connect() pairing\nalready serialises xs_connect() with xs_tcp_tls_setup_socket(),\nso the take and release are balanced one-for-one.\n\nThe non-TLS connect worker (xs_tcp_setup_socket) never reads\nsock_xprt::clnt, so leave that path alone and avoid the\nclnt-holds-xprt-holds-clnt cycle that would otherwise prevent\nxprt destruction."
}
],
"metrics": [
{
"cvssV3_1": {
"baseScore": 9.8,
"baseSeverity": "CRITICAL",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"version": "3.1"
},
"scenarios": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "AV:N - The flaw is in the SUNRPC TCP-with-TLS client connect_worker processing a remote NFS server\u0027s TLS handshake; a malicious or misconfigured server can induce fatal handshake failure over the network before the delayed worker runs, matching network-reachable kTLS/RPC-with-TLS client paths.\nAC:L - An attacker operating a reachable NFS endpoint can reliably cause fatal TLS handshake failure (e.g., reject mTLS client certificates or send TLS alerts) and influence reconnect timing/backoff so client teardown frees rpc_clnt before the queued connect_worker executes.\nPR:N - Exploitation requires no privileges on the victim host; a remote peer only needs the client kernel to initiate or re-establish an NFS RPC-with-TLS connection, and TLS handshake processing occurs before NFS authentication completes.\nUI:N - No further victim action is needed once an NFS xprtsec=tls/mtls mount exists because automatic reconnect after server-induced disconnect or handshake failure can trigger the race without additional user interaction.\nS:U - Impact is confined to kernel memory corruption and privilege boundaries within the same host; this is standard local kernel compromise rather than crossing VM, container, or IOMMU security scopes.\nC:H - This is a kernel heap use-after-free where xs_tcp_tls_setup_socket reads multiple fields from a freed rpc_clnt (including cl_cred and cl_program), enabling information disclosure and further exploitation beyond a simple crash.\nI:H - Use-after-free of rpc_clnt permits corrupting allocator metadata and adjacent kernel objects; freed-object reuse can yield arbitrary write or control-flow hijack primitives, not merely authenticated data alteration.\nA:H - Accessing the freed rpc_clnt produces a refcount_t underflow and kernel oops/panic; even unsuccessful exploitation typically crashes or hangs the system, and repeated reconnect attempts can deny availability."
}
]
}
],
"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:42:43.024Z",
"orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"shortName": "Linux"
},
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/79cd550f8c884523b604fbfa43eb02def74d6224"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a65b41b657b71d5a77861f47dd13eb4bc8e10d0"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5b0427ba582d143a364301f825f4e32272f06d2d"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d49f6d098ed48775b9d27a9f9c5c220fdf76f102"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/46bc86c833956219bbfd246c1ffd832a479c5199"
}
],
"title": "SUNRPC: pin upper rpc_clnt across the TLS connect_worker",
"x_generator": {
"engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
}
}
},
"cveMetadata": {
"assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"assignerShortName": "Linux",
"cveId": "CVE-2026-72317",
"datePublished": "2026-08-15T05:55:31.022Z",
"dateReserved": "2026-08-09T03:40:39.919Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:42:43.024Z",
"state": "PUBLISHED"
},
"dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
"dataVersion": "5.2"
}
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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.
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