CVE-2026-74513
HighCVSS 7.8Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk3th percentile - higher than 3% of all known CVEs
Summary
A use-after-free vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's dibs layer, affecting attach/detach/unregister operations for dmb_node in loopback mode. The issue stems from a race between hash table lookup and refcount operations, potentially leading to use of freed memory. The fix makes refcount transitions and hash table removal atomic under the write lock.
Risk Assessment
The vulnerability could lead to system crashes (kernel panic) or potentially privilege escalation in environments using SMC-D over ISM or dibs loopback. A local attacker could exploit the race to corrupt kernel memory.
Recommendation
Immediately update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix for CVE-2026-74513. Monitor your distribution for the patch and apply it urgently in production environments.
Original NVD description (English source)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dibs: fix use-after-free of dmb_node in loopback attach/detach/unregister dibs_lo_attach_dmb(), dibs_lo_detach_dmb() and dibs_lo_unregister_dmb() look up the dmb_node under dmb_ht_lock, drop the lock and only then operate on the node's refcount. Nothing keeps the node alive across that window: __dibs_lo_unregister_dmb() removes the node from the hash table under the write lock and immediately frees it. A concurrent final put can therefore free the node between the lookup and the refcount operation: CPU0 (attach) CPU1 (owner unregisters) read_lock_bh(&dmb_ht_lock) find dmb_node (refcnt == 1) read_unlock_bh(&dmb_ht_lock) refcount_dec_and_test() 1 -> 0 write_lock_bh(&dmb_ht_lock) hash_del(&dmb_node->list) write_unlock_bh(&dmb_ht_lock) kfree(dmb_node) refcount_inc_not_zero(&dmb_node->refcnt) <-- use-after-free The same window exists for the refcount_dec_and_test() calls in the detach and unregister paths. Close the race structurally by making hash table membership and the refcount transitions atomic with respect to each other: - Perform the final refcount_dec_and_test() and hash_del() in a single dmb_ht_lock write-side critical section, in both the unregister and the detach path. Freeing the node still happens after the lock is dropped, which is safe because a node whose refcount reached zero has left the hash table and can no longer be found. - This establishes the invariant that any node found in the hash table holds at least one reference, and that the final reference can only be dropped under the write lock. dibs_lo_attach_dmb() can thus take its reference with a plain refcount_inc() while still holding the read lock; refcount_inc_not_zero() is no longer needed. __dibs_lo_unregister_dmb() no longer touches the hash table and is renamed to dibs_lo_free_dmb() accordingly. Note: commit cc21191b584c ("dibs: Move data path to dibs layer") moved the code to its current location; the race was introduced earlier by commit c3a910f2380f ("net/smc: implement DMB-merged operations of loopback-ism"). Tested SMC-D via ISM and dibs loopback.