Bug 2516518 (CVE-2026-72321)

Summary: CVE-2026-72321 kernel: ipv4: igmp: Fix potential memory leaks in igmp_mod_timer() and igmp_stop_timer()
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
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Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's IPv4 Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) component. Incorrect handling of reference counts in the `igmp_mod_timer()` and `igmp_stop_timer()` functions can occur when a multicast list entry is concurrently removed. This can lead to a memory leak of the `im` structure, potentially impacting system stability.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-15 06:16:40 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ipv4: igmp: Fix potential memory leaks in igmp_mod_timer() and igmp_stop_timer()

When a timer is deleted and not re-armed in igmp_mod_timer(), or stopped
in igmp_stop_timer(), the code currently decrements the reference counter
of the multicast list entry @im using refcount_dec(&im->refcnt).

However, both functions can be called from the RCU reader path:
- igmp_mod_timer() via igmp_heard_query() -> for_each_pmc_rcu()
- igmp_stop_timer() via igmp_rcv() -> igmp_heard_report()

If the group im was concurrently removed from the list by ip_mc_dec_group(),
its reference count might have already been decremented to 1.

In this case, timer_delete() succeeds, and refcount_dec() decrements
the refcount from 1 to 0. Since refcount_dec() does not free the object
when it hits 0 (unlike ip_ma_put()), the im structure is leaked.

Fix this by using ip_ma_put(im) instead of refcount_dec(&im->refcnt),
and deferring the put until after the spinlock is released.