CVE-2026-98284: netlink: do not free nlk->groups while lockless readers can use it
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
netlink: do not free nlk->groups while lockless readers can use it
netlinkreallocgroups() uses krealloc() under netlinktablegrab(). 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) skdiagdumpgroups(). Hashed (bound) sockets are dumped from the rhashtable walk in netlinkdiagdump(), which only holds RCU. Only the mclist part of the dump takes nltablelock.
2) netlinknativeseqshow() (/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 skdiagdumpgroups() 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 NETLINKDIAGGROUPS 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 skdiagdumpgroups() is not an option, because it is also called with nltablelock already held from the mclist 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.
netlinkreallocgroups() is called from process context (bind() and setsockopt()), so kfreercumightsleep() can be used, once the table has been released.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linuxto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-awsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.17 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-gcpto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.18 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-ibmto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-oracleto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-1015.16 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-riscvto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42.1 - Compensating control
In netlink_realloc_groups(), allocate a new bitmap and free the old bitmap only after an RCU grace period instead of relying on krealloc()'s implicit kfree(); use kfree_rcu_mightsleep() after releasing the netlink table lock.
- Compensating control
Publish @groups before @ngroups, using release semantics for both, and make lockless readers—including sk_diag_dump_groups() and netlink_native_seq_show()—load @ngroups first.
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Which kernel interfaces can access the affected state without the netlink table lock?
The affected lockless readers are sk_diag_dump_groups(), used during netlink socket diagnostic dumps, and netlink_native_seq_show(), which backs /proc/net/netlink. The diagnostic dump path holds only RCU while walking hashed bound sockets.
What timing is required for the unsafe access to occur?
A netlink group bitmap reallocation must free the old bitmap after crossing into a different kmalloc bucket while a lockless reader still accesses the old groups pointer. In the diagnostic path, a reader can also combine an old groups pointer with a new ngroups value and read beyond the old, smaller buffer.
What output can contain data read through the race?
sk_diag_dump_groups() can copy the result into a NETLINK_DIAG_GROUPS attribute. The description does not provide a reliable detection method or observable system log indicator for prior occurrence.