CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-99233

HighCVSS 7.8
Published: Translated: NVD NIST

Summary

A use-after-free in the Linux kernel tracing/histograms subsystem: find_synth_event() compared only the event basename, so registering or removing a histogram on a non-synthetic event whose basename matched a synthetic event erroneously modified the synthetic event's refcount. This could free the synthetic event while an active histogram action still held a pointer to it.

Risk Assessment

A local attacker could trigger a kernel use-after-free, potentially causing a system crash or privilege escalation. Exploitation requires the ability to create synthetic events and histograms.

Recommendation

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix. Restrict the ability to create synthetic events and histograms to trusted users.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

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Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing/histograms: Verify event_call identity when updating synth_event refcount In event_hist_trigger_parse() and hist_unreg_all(), the histogram registration and unregistration paths look up find_synth_event() using trace_event_name(file->event_call) and adjust se->ref if a match is found. Because find_synth_event() only compares the event basename, registering or removing a histogram on a non-synthetic trace event whose basename matches a synthetic event erroneously modifies the synthetic event's reference count. If a histogram is registered on the non-synthetic event before the synthetic event is created and removed afterwards, se->ref is decremented without a matching increment, allowing the synthetic event to be freed while an active histogram action still holds a pointer to it. Introduce find_synth_event_call() to verify that &se->call matches file->event_call before adjusting se->ref.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS