Bug 2507075 (CVE-2026-64426)

Summary: CVE-2026-64426 kernel: io_uring/nop: fix file reference leak with IOSQE_FIXED_FILE
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's io_uring/nop component. A local user could exploit this by submitting a specially crafted no-operation (NOP) request. This could lead to a file reference not being properly released, resulting in a memory leak. Over time, this memory leak could impact system stability and resource availability.
Story Points: ---
Clone Of: Environment:
Last Closed: Type: ---
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-07-25 10:03:41 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

io_uring/nop: fix file reference leak with IOSQE_FIXED_FILE

NOP file-acquisition support choses between a fixed (registered) file and
a normal fget()'d file based on its own IORING_NOP_FIXED_FILE flag in
sqe->nop_flags. However, a request's REQ_F_FIXED_FILE is set
independently from the generic IOSQE_FIXED_FILE sqe flag during request
init, before the issue handler runs.

If a NOP is submitted with IOSQE_FIXED_FILE set (so REQ_F_FIXED_FILE is
set) but without IORING_NOP_FIXED_FILE, io_nop() takes the normal path
and grabs a real reference via io_file_get_normal(). On completion,
io_put_file() only drops the reference when REQ_F_FIXED_FILE is clear,
so the fget()'d file is never released and leaks:

  BUG: memory leak
  unreferenced object 0xffff88800f42c240 (size 176):
    kmem_cache_alloc_noprof+0x358/0x440
    alloc_empty_file+0x57/0x180
    path_openat+0x44/0x1e50
    do_file_open+0x121/0x200
    do_sys_openat2+0xa7/0x150
    __x64_sys_openat+0x82/0xf0

Decide between fixed and normal file acquisition from REQ_F_FIXED_FILE,
the same way io_assign_file() does for every other opcode, and fold
IORING_NOP_FIXED_FILE into REQ_F_FIXED_FILE at prep time.