In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
netlink: do not free nlk->groups while lockless readers can use it
netlink_realloc_groups() uses krealloc() under netlink_table_grab().
Whenever NLGRPSZ(groups) lands in a different kmalloc bucket, the old
bitmap is freed immediately.
Two readers of nlk->groups / nlk->ngroups do not hold the netlink
table lock:
1) sk_diag_dump_groups(). Hashed (bound) sockets are dumped from the
rhashtable walk in __netlink_diag_dump(), which only holds RCU.
Only the mc_list part of the dump takes nl_table_lock.
2) netlink_native_seq_show() (/proc/net/netlink), whose walk has been
lockless since commit 21e4902aea80 ("netlink: Lockless lookup with
RCU grace period in socket release").
Both can read a freed buffer, and sk_diag_dump_groups() can also read
past the end of the old (smaller) buffer if it happens to load the old
@groups pointer together with the new @ngroups value, copying the
result into a NETLINK_DIAG_GROUPS attribute.
This is the same class of bug that commit f773608026ee ("netlink:
access nlk groups safely in netlink bind and getname") fixed for bind()
and getname(); these two readers were missed. Simply grabbing the table
lock in sk_diag_dump_groups() is not an option, because it is also
called with nl_table_lock already held from the mc_list section of the
dump.
Make the lockless readers safe instead:
- Allocate a new bitmap and free the old one after an RCU grace period,
instead of relying on the implicit kfree() done by krealloc().
- Publish @groups before @ngroups, both with release semantics, and have
the lockless readers load @ngroups first. A reader can then never pair
the new (bigger) size with the old (smaller) buffer, and a reader
picking up the new pointer while still seeing the old size is
guaranteed to see the initialized bitmap.
netlink_realloc_groups() is called from process context (bind() and
setsockopt()), so kfree_rcu_mightsleep() can be used, once the table
has been released.
netlink: do not free nlk->groups while lockless readers can use it
netlink_realloc_groups() uses krealloc() under netlink_table_grab().
Whenever NLGRPSZ(groups) lands in a different kmalloc bucket, the old
bitmap is freed immediately.
Two readers of nlk->groups / nlk->ngroups do not hold the netlink
table lock:
1) sk_diag_dump_groups(). Hashed (bound) sockets are dumped from the
rhashtable walk in __netlink_diag_dump(), which only holds RCU.
Only the mc_list part of the dump takes nl_table_lock.
2) netlink_native_seq_show() (/proc/net/netlink), whose walk has been
lockless since commit 21e4902aea80 ("netlink: Lockless lookup with
RCU grace period in socket release").
Both can read a freed buffer, and sk_diag_dump_groups() can also read
past the end of the old (smaller) buffer if it happens to load the old
@groups pointer together with the new @ngroups value, copying the
result into a NETLINK_DIAG_GROUPS attribute.
This is the same class of bug that commit f773608026ee ("netlink:
access nlk groups safely in netlink bind and getname") fixed for bind()
and getname(); these two readers were missed. Simply grabbing the table
lock in sk_diag_dump_groups() is not an option, because it is also
called with nl_table_lock already held from the mc_list section of the
dump.
Make the lockless readers safe instead:
- Allocate a new bitmap and free the old one after an RCU grace period,
instead of relying on the implicit kfree() done by krealloc().
- Publish @groups before @ngroups, both with release semantics, and have
the lockless readers load @ngroups first. A reader can then never pair
the new (bigger) size with the old (smaller) buffer, and a reader
picking up the new pointer while still seeing the old size is
guaranteed to see the initialized bitmap.
netlink_realloc_groups() is called from process context (bind() and
setsockopt()), so kfree_rcu_mightsleep() can be used, once the table
has been released.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
Advisories
No advisories yet.
Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netlink: do not free nlk->groups while lockless readers can use it netlink_realloc_groups() uses krealloc() under netlink_table_grab(). Whenever NLGRPSZ(groups) lands in a different kmalloc bucket, the old bitmap is freed immediately. Two readers of nlk->groups / nlk->ngroups do not hold the netlink table lock: 1) sk_diag_dump_groups(). Hashed (bound) sockets are dumped from the rhashtable walk in __netlink_diag_dump(), which only holds RCU. Only the mc_list part of the dump takes nl_table_lock. 2) netlink_native_seq_show() (/proc/net/netlink), whose walk has been lockless since commit 21e4902aea80 ("netlink: Lockless lookup with RCU grace period in socket release"). Both can read a freed buffer, and sk_diag_dump_groups() can also read past the end of the old (smaller) buffer if it happens to load the old @groups pointer together with the new @ngroups value, copying the result into a NETLINK_DIAG_GROUPS attribute. This is the same class of bug that commit f773608026ee ("netlink: access nlk groups safely in netlink bind and getname") fixed for bind() and getname(); these two readers were missed. Simply grabbing the table lock in sk_diag_dump_groups() is not an option, because it is also called with nl_table_lock already held from the mc_list section of the dump. Make the lockless readers safe instead: - Allocate a new bitmap and free the old one after an RCU grace period, instead of relying on the implicit kfree() done by krealloc(). - Publish @groups before @ngroups, both with release semantics, and have the lockless readers load @ngroups first. A reader can then never pair the new (bigger) size with the old (smaller) buffer, and a reader picking up the new pointer while still seeing the old size is guaranteed to see the initialized bitmap. netlink_realloc_groups() is called from process context (bind() and setsockopt()), so kfree_rcu_mightsleep() can be used, once the table has been released. | |
| Title | netlink: do not free nlk->groups while lockless readers can use it | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
Projects
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MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-10-06T08:45:45.443Z
Reserved: 2026-09-25T10:25:14.335Z
Link: CVE-2026-98284
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-10-06T09:18:18.480
Modified: 2026-10-06T09:18:18.480
Link: CVE-2026-98284
Redhat
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.
Weaknesses
No weakness.