Critical severity · published Aug 15, 2026
CVE-2026-72323
ipv4: igmp: Fix potential UAF in igmp_gq_start_timer()
9.8
CVSS
0.7%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ipv4: igmp: Fix potential UAF in igmp_gq_start_timer()
A race condition exists between device teardown (inetdev_destroy) and
incoming IGMP query processing (igmp_rcv), leading to a Use-After-Free
in the IGMP timer callback.
During device destruction, inetdev_destroy() drops the primary reference
to in_device, which can drop its refcount to 0. The actual freeing of
in_device memory is deferred via RCU (using call_rcu()).
Concurrently, igmp_rcv() runs under RCU read lock and obtains the
in_device pointer. Because the memory is RCU-protected, CPU-0 can safely
dereference in_device even if its refcount has hit 0.
However, if CPU-0 calls igmp_gq_start_timer() and re-arms the timer, it
attempts to acquire a reference using in_dev_hold(). This increments the
refcount from 0 to 1, triggering a "refcount_t: addition on 0" warning.
Since the in_device memory is still scheduled to be freed after the RCU
grace period (as the free callback does not check the refcount again),
the device is freed while the timer is still armed. When the timer
expires, it accesses the freed memory, causing a kernel panic.
Fix this by using refcount_inc_not_zero() (via a new helper
in_dev_hold_safe()) to prevent acquiring a reference if the device is
already being destroyed. If the refcount is 0, we do not arm the timer.
A similar issue in IPv6 MLD is fixed in a subsequent patch.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.7% · higher than 54% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
LI
Linux · Linux
1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 before 7265c747eec415ca3109a6a14a419f7ae433b780; 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 before d107b4c4f8274763b7ea5ab05d45cef78e4b81ba; 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 before 74b301f7f197517016befb5f5dfab01f7bc64be5; 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 before 40a1e998cb266ed4cb529a0bb4fee2b0ba732702; 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 before 165258303357e54b75fc19b341ae2a2b7c9e3910; 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 before 75e984fe0cb9e7fbde0c8ee838c61ce8573d3ea3; +3 more · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72323
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72323
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/165258303357e54b75fc19b341ae2a2b7c9e3910
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/40a1e998cb266ed4cb529a0bb4fee2b0ba732702
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7265c747eec415ca3109a6a14a419f7ae433b780
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/74b301f7f197517016befb5f5dfab01f7bc64be5
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75e984fe0cb9e7fbde0c8ee838c61ce8573d3ea3
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7b19c0f81ed1fdaec6bc522569be367199a9edf3
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