FKIE_CVE-2026-45866
Vulnerability from fkie_nvd - Published: 2026-05-27 14:16 - Updated: 2026-06-25 21:06
Severity
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
serial: caif: fix use-after-free in caif_serial ldisc_close()
There is a use-after-free bug in caif_serial where handle_tx() may
access ser->tty after the tty has been freed.
The race condition occurs between ldisc_close() and packet transmission:
CPU 0 (close) CPU 1 (xmit)
------------- ------------
ldisc_close()
tty_kref_put(ser->tty)
[tty may be freed here]
<-- race window -->
caif_xmit()
handle_tx()
tty = ser->tty // dangling ptr
tty->ops->write() // UAF!
schedule_work()
ser_release()
unregister_netdevice()
The root cause is that tty_kref_put() is called in ldisc_close() while
the network device is still active and can receive packets.
Since ser and tty have a 1:1 binding relationship with consistent
lifecycles (ser is allocated in ldisc_open and freed in ser_release
via unregister_netdevice, and each ser binds exactly one tty), we can
safely defer the tty reference release to ser_release() where the
network device is unregistered.
Fix this by moving tty_kref_put() from ldisc_close() to ser_release(),
after unregister_netdevice(). This ensures the tty reference is held
as long as the network device exists, preventing the UAF.
Note: We save ser->tty before unregister_netdevice() because ser is
embedded in netdev's private data and will be freed along with netdev
(needs_free_netdev = true).
How to reproduce: Add mdelay(500) at the beginning of ldisc_close()
to widen the race window, then run the reproducer program [1].
Note: There is a separate deadloop issue in handle_tx() when using
PORT_UNKNOWN serial ports (e.g., /dev/ttyS3 in QEMU without proper
serial backend). This deadloop exists even without this patch,
and is likely caused by inconsistency between uart_write_room() and
uart_write() in serial core. It has been addressed in a separate
patch [2].
KASAN report:
==================================================================
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in handle_tx+0x5d1/0x620
Read of size 1 at addr ffff8881131e1490 by task caif_uaf_trigge/9929
Call Trace:
<TASK>
dump_stack_lvl+0x10e/0x1f0
print_report+0xd0/0x630
kasan_report+0xe4/0x120
handle_tx+0x5d1/0x620
dev_hard_start_xmit+0x9d/0x6c0
__dev_queue_xmit+0x6e2/0x4410
packet_xmit+0x243/0x360
packet_sendmsg+0x26cf/0x5500
__sys_sendto+0x4a3/0x520
__x64_sys_sendto+0xe0/0x1c0
do_syscall_64+0xc9/0xf80
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
RIP: 0033:0x7f615df2c0d7
Allocated by task 9930:
Freed by task 64:
Last potentially related work creation:
The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff8881131e1000
which belongs to the cache kmalloc-cg-2k of size 2048
The buggy address is located 1168 bytes inside of
freed 2048-byte region [ffff8881131e1000, ffff8881131e1800)
The buggy address belongs to the physical page:
page_owner tracks the page as allocated
page last free pid 9778 tgid 9778 stack trace:
Memory state around the buggy address:
ffff8881131e1380: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb
ffff8881131e1400: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb
>ffff8881131e1480: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb
^
ffff8881131e1500: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb
ffff8881131e1580: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb
==================================================================
[1]: https://gist.github.com/mrpre/f683f244544f7b11e7fa87df9e6c2eeb
[2]: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-serial/20260204074327.226165-1-jiayuan.chen@linux.dev/T/#u
References
Impacted products
| Vendor | Product | Version | |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * | |
| linux | linux_kernel | * |
{
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{
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"programFiles": [
"drivers/net/caif/caif_serial.c"
],
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"vendor": "Linux",
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},
{
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],
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},
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},
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},
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"status": "unaffected",
"version": "5.15.202",
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},
{
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"version": "6.1.165",
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},
{
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"version": "6.6.128",
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},
{
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"version": "6.12.75",
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},
{
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"version": "6.18.14",
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},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.19.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.19.4",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.0",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
}
]
}
],
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}
],
"configurations": [
{
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"cveTags": [],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nserial: caif: fix use-after-free in caif_serial ldisc_close()\n\nThere is a use-after-free bug in caif_serial where handle_tx() may\naccess ser-\u003etty after the tty has been freed.\n\nThe race condition occurs between ldisc_close() and packet transmission:\n\n CPU 0 (close) CPU 1 (xmit)\n ------------- ------------\n ldisc_close()\n tty_kref_put(ser-\u003etty)\n [tty may be freed here]\n \u003c-- race window --\u003e\n caif_xmit()\n handle_tx()\n tty = ser-\u003etty // dangling ptr\n tty-\u003eops-\u003ewrite() // UAF!\n schedule_work()\n ser_release()\n unregister_netdevice()\n\nThe root cause is that tty_kref_put() is called in ldisc_close() while\nthe network device is still active and can receive packets.\n\nSince ser and tty have a 1:1 binding relationship with consistent\nlifecycles (ser is allocated in ldisc_open and freed in ser_release\nvia unregister_netdevice, and each ser binds exactly one tty), we can\nsafely defer the tty reference release to ser_release() where the\nnetwork device is unregistered.\n\nFix this by moving tty_kref_put() from ldisc_close() to ser_release(),\nafter unregister_netdevice(). This ensures the tty reference is held\nas long as the network device exists, preventing the UAF.\n\nNote: We save ser-\u003etty before unregister_netdevice() because ser is\nembedded in netdev\u0027s private data and will be freed along with netdev\n(needs_free_netdev = true).\n\nHow to reproduce: Add mdelay(500) at the beginning of ldisc_close()\nto widen the race window, then run the reproducer program [1].\n\nNote: There is a separate deadloop issue in handle_tx() when using\nPORT_UNKNOWN serial ports (e.g., /dev/ttyS3 in QEMU without proper\nserial backend). This deadloop exists even without this patch,\nand is likely caused by inconsistency between uart_write_room() and\nuart_write() in serial core. It has been addressed in a separate\npatch [2].\n\nKASAN report:\n\n==================================================================\nBUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in handle_tx+0x5d1/0x620\nRead of size 1 at addr ffff8881131e1490 by task caif_uaf_trigge/9929\n\nCall Trace:\n \u003cTASK\u003e\n dump_stack_lvl+0x10e/0x1f0\n print_report+0xd0/0x630\n kasan_report+0xe4/0x120\n handle_tx+0x5d1/0x620\n dev_hard_start_xmit+0x9d/0x6c0\n __dev_queue_xmit+0x6e2/0x4410\n packet_xmit+0x243/0x360\n packet_sendmsg+0x26cf/0x5500\n __sys_sendto+0x4a3/0x520\n __x64_sys_sendto+0xe0/0x1c0\n do_syscall_64+0xc9/0xf80\n entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f\nRIP: 0033:0x7f615df2c0d7\n\nAllocated by task 9930:\n\nFreed by task 64:\n\nLast potentially related work creation:\n\nThe buggy address belongs to the object at ffff8881131e1000\n which belongs to the cache kmalloc-cg-2k of size 2048\nThe buggy address is located 1168 bytes inside of\n freed 2048-byte region [ffff8881131e1000, ffff8881131e1800)\n\nThe buggy address belongs to the physical page:\npage_owner tracks the page as allocated\npage last free pid 9778 tgid 9778 stack trace:\n\nMemory state around the buggy address:\n ffff8881131e1380: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb\n ffff8881131e1400: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb\n\u003effff8881131e1480: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb\n ^\n ffff8881131e1500: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb\n ffff8881131e1580: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb\n==================================================================\n[1]: https://gist.github.com/mrpre/f683f244544f7b11e7fa87df9e6c2eeb\n[2]: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-serial/20260204074327.226165-1-jiayuan.chen@linux.dev/T/#u"
}
],
"id": "CVE-2026-45866",
"lastModified": "2026-06-25T21:06:52.637",
"metrics": {
"cvssMetricV31": [
{
"cvssData": {
"attackComplexity": "LOW",
"attackVector": "LOCAL",
"availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
"baseScore": 7.8,
"baseSeverity": "HIGH",
"confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
"integrityImpact": "HIGH",
"privilegesRequired": "LOW",
"scope": "UNCHANGED",
"userInteraction": "NONE",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"version": "3.1"
},
"exploitabilityScore": 1.8,
"impactScore": 5.9,
"source": "nvd@nist.gov",
"type": "Primary"
}
]
},
"published": "2026-05-27T14:16:58.963",
"references": [
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"tags": [
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],
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/308e7e4d0a846359685f40aade023aee7b27284c"
},
{
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"tags": [
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"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/331e2b7051635780edea248dd08ae2026c126f4a"
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{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
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{
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"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d3c75db4e0460641dbcd274b40867e252d801da1"
}
],
"sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"vulnStatus": "Analyzed",
"weaknesses": [
{
"description": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "CWE-416"
}
],
"source": "nvd@nist.gov",
"type": "Primary"
}
]
}
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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
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