UBUNTU-CVE-2026-43249: High severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: 9p/xen: protect xen9pfsfrontfree against concurrent calls The xenwatch thread can race with other back-end change notifications and call xen9pfsfrontfree() twice, hitting the observed general protection fault due to a double-free. Guard the teardown path so only one caller can release the front-end state at a time, preventing the crash. This is a fix for the following double-free: [ 27.052347] Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0x6b6b6b6b6b6b6b6b: 0000 [#1] SMP DEBUGPAGEALLOC NOPTI [ 27.052357] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 32 Comm: xenwatch Not tainted 6.18.0-02087-g51ab33fc0a8b-dirty #60 PREEMPT(none) [ 27.052363] RIP: e030:xen9pfsfrontfree+0x1d/0x150 [ 27.052368] Code: 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 41 55 41 54 55 48 89 fd 48 c7 c7 48 d0 92 85 53 e8 cb cb 05 00 48 8b 45 08 48 8b 55 00 <48> 3b 28 0f 85 f9 28 35 fe 48 3b 6a 08 0f 85 ef 28 35 fe 48 89 42 [ 27.052377] RSP: e02b:ffffc9004016fdd0 EFLAGS: 00010246 [ 27.052381] RAX: 6b6b6b6b6b6b6b6b RBX: ffff88800d66e400 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 27.052385] RDX: 6b6b6b6b6b6b6b6b RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000 [ 27.052389] RBP: ffff88800a887040 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 27.052393] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff888009e46b68 [ 27.052397] R13: 0000000000000200 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff88800a887040 [ 27.052404] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88808ca57000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 27.052408] CS: e030 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 27.052412] CR2: 00007f9714004360 CR3: 0000000004834000 CR4: 0000000000050660 [ 27.052418] Call Trace: [ 27.052420] <TASK> [ 27.052422] xen9pfsfrontchanged+0x5d5/0x720 [ 27.052426] ? xenbusotherendchanged+0x72/0x140 [ 27.052430] ? pfxxenwatchthread+0x10/0x10 [ 27.052434] xenwatchthread+0x94/0x1c0 [ 27.052438] ? pfxautoremovewakefunction+0x10/0x10 [ 27.052442] kthread+0xf8/0x240 [ 27.052445] ? pfxkthread+0x10/0x10 [ 27.052449] ? pfxkthread+0x10/0x10 [ 27.052452] retfromfork+0x16b/0x1a0 [ 27.052456] ? pfxkthread+0x10/0x10 [ 27.052459] retfromforkasm+0x1a/0x30 [ 27.052463] </TASK> [ 27.052465] Modules linked in: [ 27.052471] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-aws-6.8to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1060.63~22.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1063.71~22.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.8to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1062.69~22.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.8to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1063.69~22.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.8to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-136.136~22.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1060.61~22.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-134.134.1~22.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1058.61~22.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1057.58~22.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-134.134~22.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.1-1055.56~22.04.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linuxto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-134.134 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-awsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1060.63 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azureto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1063.71 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azure-fdeto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1062.69 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidiato a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1039.42 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gcpto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1063.69 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gketo a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1058.64 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gkeopto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1045.48 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-ibmto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1060.61 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-lowlatencyto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-134.134.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-nvidiato a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1058.61 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatencyto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1058.61.1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegrato a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1029.30 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-oracleto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1057.58 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-raspito a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1060.64 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-xilinxto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1032.33 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-bluefieldto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1026.30 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtimeto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-2049.50 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-realtimeto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.1-1055.56 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-aws-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1060.63+fips1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-azure-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1062.69+fips1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-134.134+fips1 - Upgrade
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ubuntu/linux-gcp-fipsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.8.0-1063.69+fips1 - Compensating control
Protect xen_9pfs_front_free so concurrent callers are serialized and only one caller can release the Xen 9pfs front-end state, preventing duplicate teardown and double-free.
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Which systems are exposed to this issue?
The affected software list includes Ubuntu linux, linux-aws, linux-azure, linux-azure-fde, linux-gcp, linux-oracle, linux-raspi, and linux-realtime kernels. The vulnerable code is in the Xen 9p front-end path, so exposure depends on use of that functionality.
What conditions trigger the vulnerability?
A race between the xenwatch thread and other back-end change notifications can cause xen_9pfs_front_free() to run twice. This results in a double-free and an observed kernel general protection fault.
What is the practical impact?
The described failure crashes in the kernel's Xen 9p front-end teardown path. The supplied severity vector rates confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts as high, with network-adjacent attack vector and no privileges or user interaction required.