CVE-2026-63951: zram: fix use-after-free in zram_writeback_endio

Published Jul 19, 2026
·
Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

zram: fix use-after-free in zramwritebackendio

A crash was observed in zramwritebackendio due to a NULL pointer dereference in wakeup. The root cause is a race condition between the bio completion handler (zramwritebackendio) and the writeback task.

In zramwritebackendio, wakeup() is called on &wbctl->donewait after releasing wbctl->donelock. This creates a race window where the writeback task can see numinflight become 0, return, and free wbctl before zramwritebackendio calls wakeup().

CPU 0 (zramwritebackendio) CPU 1 (writebackstore) ============================ ============================ zramwritebackslots zramsubmitwbrequest zramsubmitwbrequest waitevent(wbctl->donewait) spinlock(&wbctl->donelock); listadd(&req->entry, &wbctl->donereqs); spinunlock(&wbctl->donelock); wakeup(&wbctl->donewait); zramcompletedonereqs spinlock(&wbctl->donelock); listadd(&req->entry, &wbctl->donereqs); spinunlock(&wbctl->donelock); while (numinflight) > 0) spinlock(&wbctl->donelock); listdel(&req->entry); spinunlock(&wbctl->donelock); // numinflight becomes 0 atomicdec(numinflight);

// Leave zramwritebackslots // Free wbctl releasewbctl(wbctl); // UAF crash! wakeup(&wbctl->donewait);

This patch fixes this race by using RCU. By protecting wbctl with rcureadlock() in zramwritebackendio and using kfreercu() to free it, we ensure that wbctl remains valid during the execution of zramwritebackendio.

Affected Software

10 affected componentsFixes available
Linux Kernel
Linux Linux kernel>=6.19<7.0.12
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc1
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc2
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc3
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc4
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc5
debian/linux<7.0.12-1
7.0.12-1
linux/kernel>=6.19.0<7.0.12
7.0.12
debian/linux
6.1.176-16.1.190-16.12.107-16.12.115-27.2.12-17.2.15-1

Event History

Jul 19, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·02:55 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·02:55 PM
DescriptionSeverity
Data Sourced
via OSV·02:55 PM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Data Sourced
via NVD·04:17 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software

Contact

SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
132 Wickham Terrace
Fortitude Valley,
QLD 4006, Australia
info@secalerts.co
By using SecAlerts services, you agree to our services end-user license agreement. This website is safeguarded by reCAPTCHA and governed by the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. All names, logos, and brands of products are owned by their respective owners, and any usage of these names, logos, and brands for identification purposes only does not imply endorsement. If you possess any content that requires removal, please get in touch with us.
© 2026 SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
ABN: 70 645 966 203, ACN: 645 966 203