Bug 2448596 (CVE-2026-23248)

Summary: CVE-2026-23248 kernel: perf/core: Fix refcount bug and potential UAF in perf_mmap
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
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Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A use-after-free vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's perf subsystem. A race condition exists in perf_mmap() between a failing mmap() setup and concurrent mmap() operations on dependent events. When map_range() fails, the cleanup path runs while the mmap_mutex is released, allowing another thread to observe and access a ring buffer whose reference count has already reached zero. This can result in use-after-free or refcount corruption.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-03-18 11:02:29 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

perf/core: Fix refcount bug and potential UAF in perf_mmap

Syzkaller reported a refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free warning
in perf_mmap.

The issue is caused by a race condition between a failing mmap() setup
and a concurrent mmap() on a dependent event (e.g., using output
redirection).

In perf_mmap(), the ring_buffer (rb) is allocated and assigned to
event->rb with the mmap_mutex held. The mutex is then released to
perform map_range().

If map_range() fails, perf_mmap_close() is called to clean up.
However, since the mutex was dropped, another thread attaching to
this event (via inherited events or output redirection) can acquire
the mutex, observe the valid event->rb pointer, and attempt to
increment its reference count. If the cleanup path has already
dropped the reference count to zero, this results in a
use-after-free or refcount saturation warning.

Fix this by extending the scope of mmap_mutex to cover the
map_range() call. This ensures that the ring buffer initialization
and mapping (or cleanup on failure) happens atomically effectively,
preventing other threads from accessing a half-initialized or
dying ring buffer.