Linux: >> Linux Kernel >> 2.6.20.14 Security Vulnerabilities
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
xfrm: clear trailing padding in build_polexpire()
build_expire() clears the trailing padding bytes of struct
xfrm_user_expire after setting the hard field via memset_after(),
but the analogous function build_polexpire() does not do this for
struct xfrm_user_polexpire.
The padding bytes after the __u8 hard field are left
uninitialized from the heap allocation, and are then sent to
userspace via netlink multicast to XFRMNLGRP_EXPIRE listeners,
leaking kernel heap memory contents.
Add the missing memset_after() call, matching build_expire().
CVSS Score
5.5
EPSS Score
0.0
Published
2026-04-24
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
Input: uinput - fix circular locking dependency with ff-core
A lockdep circular locking dependency warning can be triggered
reproducibly when using a force-feedback gamepad with uinput (for
example, playing ELDEN RING under Wine with a Flydigi Vader 5
controller):
ff->mutex -> udev->mutex -> input_mutex -> dev->mutex -> ff->mutex
The cycle is caused by four lock acquisition paths:
1. ff upload: input_ff_upload() holds ff->mutex and calls
uinput_dev_upload_effect() -> uinput_request_submit() ->
uinput_request_send(), which acquires udev->mutex.
2. device create: uinput_ioctl_handler() holds udev->mutex and calls
uinput_create_device() -> input_register_device(), which acquires
input_mutex.
3. device register: input_register_device() holds input_mutex and
calls kbd_connect() -> input_register_handle(), which acquires
dev->mutex.
4. evdev release: evdev_release() calls input_flush_device() under
dev->mutex, which calls input_ff_flush() acquiring ff->mutex.
Fix this by introducing a new state_lock spinlock to protect
udev->state and udev->dev access in uinput_request_send() instead of
acquiring udev->mutex. The function only needs to atomically check
device state and queue an input event into the ring buffer via
uinput_dev_event() -- both operations are safe under a spinlock
(ktime_get_ts64() and wake_up_interruptible() do not sleep). This
breaks the ff->mutex -> udev->mutex link since a spinlock is a leaf in
the lock ordering and cannot form cycles with mutexes.
To keep state transitions visible to uinput_request_send(), protect
writes to udev->state in uinput_create_device() and
uinput_destroy_device() with the same state_lock spinlock.
Additionally, move init_completion(&request->done) from
uinput_request_send() to uinput_request_submit() before
uinput_request_reserve_slot(). Once the slot is allocated,
uinput_flush_requests() may call complete() on it at any time from
the destroy path, so the completion must be initialised before the
request becomes visible.
Lock ordering after the fix:
ff->mutex -> state_lock (spinlock, leaf)
udev->mutex -> state_lock (spinlock, leaf)
udev->mutex -> input_mutex -> dev->mutex -> ff->mutex (no back-edge)
CVSS Score
7.8
EPSS Score
0.0
Published
2026-04-24
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
xfrm_user: fix info leak in build_report()
struct xfrm_user_report is a __u8 proto field followed by a struct
xfrm_selector which means there is three "empty" bytes of padding, but
the padding is never zeroed before copying to userspace. Fix that up by
zeroing the structure before setting individual member variables.
CVSS Score
5.5
EPSS Score
0.0
Published
2026-04-24
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
media: em28xx: fix use-after-free in em28xx_v4l2_open()
em28xx_v4l2_open() reads dev->v4l2 without holding dev->lock,
creating a race with em28xx_v4l2_init()'s error path and
em28xx_v4l2_fini(), both of which free the em28xx_v4l2 struct
and set dev->v4l2 to NULL under dev->lock.
This race leads to two issues:
- use-after-free in v4l2_fh_init() when accessing vdev->ctrl_handler,
since the video_device is embedded in the freed em28xx_v4l2 struct.
- NULL pointer dereference in em28xx_resolution_set() when accessing
v4l2->norm, since dev->v4l2 has been set to NULL.
Fix this by moving the mutex_lock() before the dev->v4l2 read and
adding a NULL check for dev->v4l2 under the lock.
CVSS Score
7.8
EPSS Score
0.0
Published
2026-04-24
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
media: mediatek: vcodec: fix use-after-free in encoder release path
The fops_vcodec_release() function frees the context structure (ctx)
without first cancelling any pending or running work in ctx->encode_work.
This creates a race window where the workqueue handler (mtk_venc_worker)
may still be accessing the context memory after it has been freed.
Race condition:
CPU 0 (release path) CPU 1 (workqueue)
--------------------- ------------------
fops_vcodec_release()
v4l2_m2m_ctx_release()
v4l2_m2m_cancel_job()
// waits for m2m job "done"
mtk_venc_worker()
v4l2_m2m_job_finish()
// m2m job "done"
// BUT worker still running!
// post-job_finish access:
other ctx dereferences
// UAF if ctx already freed
// returns (job "done")
kfree(ctx) // ctx freed
Root cause: The v4l2_m2m_ctx_release() only waits for the m2m job
lifecycle (via TRANS_RUNNING flag), not the workqueue lifecycle.
After v4l2_m2m_job_finish() is called, the m2m framework considers
the job complete and v4l2_m2m_ctx_release() returns, but the worker
function continues executing and may still access ctx.
The work is queued during encode operations via:
queue_work(ctx->dev->encode_workqueue, &ctx->encode_work)
The worker function accesses ctx->m2m_ctx, ctx->dev, and other ctx
fields even after calling v4l2_m2m_job_finish().
This vulnerability was confirmed with KASAN by running an instrumented
test module that widens the post-job_finish race window. KASAN detected:
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in mtk_venc_worker+0x159/0x180
Read of size 4 at addr ffff88800326e000 by task kworker/u8:0/12
Workqueue: mtk_vcodec_enc_wq mtk_venc_worker
Allocated by task 47:
__kasan_kmalloc+0x7f/0x90
fops_vcodec_open+0x85/0x1a0
Freed by task 47:
__kasan_slab_free+0x43/0x70
kfree+0xee/0x3a0
fops_vcodec_release+0xb7/0x190
Fix this by calling cancel_work_sync(&ctx->encode_work) before kfree(ctx).
This ensures the workqueue handler is both cancelled (if pending) and
synchronized (waits for any running handler to complete) before the
context is freed.
Placement rationale: The fix is placed after v4l2_ctrl_handler_free()
and before list_del_init(&ctx->list). At this point, all m2m operations
are done (v4l2_m2m_ctx_release() has returned), and we need to ensure
the workqueue is synchronized before removing ctx from the list and
freeing it.
Note: The open error path does NOT need cancel_work_sync() because
INIT_WORK() only initializes the work structure - it does not schedule
it. Work is only scheduled later during device_run() operations.
CVSS Score
7.8
EPSS Score
0.0
Published
2026-04-24
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
clockevents: Add missing resets of the next_event_forced flag
The prevention mechanism against timer interrupt starvation missed to reset
the next_event_forced flag in a couple of places:
- When the clock event state changes. That can cause the flag to be
stale over a shutdown/startup sequence
- When a non-forced event is armed, which then prevents rearming before
that event. If that event is far out in the future this will cause
missed timer interrupts.
- In the suspend wakeup handler.
That led to stalls which have been reported by several people.
Add the missing resets, which fixes the problems for the reporters.
CVSS Score
5.5
EPSS Score
0.0
Published
2026-04-24
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm/userfaultfd: fix hugetlb fault mutex hash calculation
In mfill_atomic_hugetlb(), linear_page_index() is used to calculate the
page index for hugetlb_fault_mutex_hash(). However, linear_page_index()
returns the index in PAGE_SIZE units, while hugetlb_fault_mutex_hash()
expects the index in huge page units. This mismatch means that different
addresses within the same huge page can produce different hash values,
leading to the use of different mutexes for the same huge page. This can
cause races between faulting threads, which can corrupt the reservation
map and trigger the BUG_ON in resv_map_release().
Fix this by introducing hugetlb_linear_page_index(), which returns the
page index in huge page granularity, and using it in place of
linear_page_index().
CVSS Score
5.5
EPSS Score
0.0
Published
2026-04-24
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
media: hackrf: fix to not free memory after the device is registered in hackrf_probe()
In hackrf driver, the following race condition occurs:
```
CPU0 CPU1
hackrf_probe()
kzalloc(); // alloc hackrf_dev
....
v4l2_device_register();
....
fd = sys_open("/path/to/dev"); // open hackrf fd
....
v4l2_device_unregister();
....
kfree(); // free hackrf_dev
....
sys_ioctl(fd, ...);
v4l2_ioctl();
video_is_registered() // UAF!!
....
sys_close(fd);
v4l2_release() // UAF!!
hackrf_video_release()
kfree(); // DFB!!
```
When a V4L2 or video device is unregistered, the device node is removed so
new open() calls are blocked.
However, file descriptors that are already open-and any in-flight I/O-do
not terminate immediately; they remain valid until the last reference is
dropped and the driver's release() is invoked.
Therefore, freeing device memory on the error path after hackrf_probe()
has registered dev it will lead to a race to use-after-free vuln, since
those already-open handles haven't been released yet.
And since release() free memory too, race to use-after-free and
double-free vuln occur.
To prevent this, if device is registered from probe(), it should be
modified to free memory only through release() rather than calling
kfree() directly.
CVSS Score
7.8
EPSS Score
0.0
Published
2026-04-24
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
nilfs2: fix NULL i_assoc_inode dereference in nilfs_mdt_save_to_shadow_map
The DAT inode's btree node cache (i_assoc_inode) is initialized lazily
during btree operations. However, nilfs_mdt_save_to_shadow_map()
assumes i_assoc_inode is already initialized when copying dirty pages
to the shadow map during GC.
If NILFS_IOCTL_CLEAN_SEGMENTS is called immediately after mount before
any btree operation has occurred on the DAT inode, i_assoc_inode is
NULL leading to a general protection fault.
Fix this by calling nilfs_attach_btree_node_cache() on the DAT inode
in nilfs_dat_read() at mount time, ensuring i_assoc_inode is always
initialized before any GC operation can use it.
CVSS Score
5.5
EPSS Score
0.0
Published
2026-04-24
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
media: as102: fix to not free memory after the device is registered in as102_usb_probe()
In as102_usb driver, the following race condition occurs:
```
CPU0 CPU1
as102_usb_probe()
kzalloc(); // alloc as102_dev_t
....
usb_register_dev();
fd = sys_open("/path/to/dev"); // open as102 fd
....
usb_deregister_dev();
....
kfree(); // free as102_dev_t
....
sys_close(fd);
as102_release() // UAF!!
as102_usb_release()
kfree(); // DFB!!
```
When a USB character device registered with usb_register_dev() is later
unregistered (via usb_deregister_dev() or disconnect), the device node is
removed so new open() calls fail. However, file descriptors that are
already open do not go away immediately: they remain valid until the last
reference is dropped and the driver's .release() is invoked.
In as102, as102_usb_probe() calls usb_register_dev() and then, on an
error path, does usb_deregister_dev() and frees as102_dev_t right away.
If userspace raced a successful open() before the deregistration, that
open FD will later hit as102_release() --> as102_usb_release() and access
or free as102_dev_t again, occur a race to use-after-free and
double-free vuln.
The fix is to never kfree(as102_dev_t) directly once usb_register_dev()
has succeeded. After deregistration, defer freeing memory to .release().
In other words, let release() perform the last kfree when the final open
FD is closed.
CVSS Score
7.8
EPSS Score
0.0
Published
2026-04-24
Page 1