Bug 2528549 (CVE-2026-80777)

Summary: CVE-2026-80777 kernel: futex/pi: Plug private futex exec() race
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: akhatavk, aos-team-art-private, asdas, dpaolell, jdelft, jupierce, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, rhel-process-autobot, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. A race condition exists in the futex/pi component during the `exec()` system call. This vulnerability occurs because the memory management (mm) check is incorrect when a task's memory is being swapped out and freed, while still being referenced by private futexes. This can lead to the system attempting to access freed memory, potentially resulting in memory corruption or system instability.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-09-04 15:32:34 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

futex/pi: Plug private futex exec() race

The check for private futexes whether the waiter's mm, which is stored in
the futex_key and copied into the pi_state, is the same as the owner's mm
is not sufficient for exec(). exec() has a gap where the mm check fails to
give the correct answer:

  exec()
  ...
    exec_release_mm()
      futex_exec_release()
        tsk::futex::exit_state = EXITING;
        cleanup_robust_list();
1)      tsk::futex::exit_state = OK;
    ...
    old_mm = tsk::mm;
2)  tsk::mm = ->mm;

Between #1 and #2 the check for the mm is wrong as that mm is about to be
swapped out and eventually freed.

Plug this gap by:

  1) Setting tsk::futex::exit_state to FUTEX_STATE_DEAD in
     futex_exec_release()

  2) Setting tsk::futex::exit_state to FUTEX_STATE_OK after
     the mm has been switched.

From a futex point of view the task is dead after it finished the robust
list cleanup up to the point where it sets the state to OK again.