Bug 2532081 (CVE-2026-80995)

Summary: CVE-2026-80995 kernel: net: mctp: hold a reference to the route device in mctp_route_lookup()
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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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's MCTP (Message Control Transport Protocol) networking implementation. This vulnerability arises because the `mctp_route_lookup()` function accesses a route device without holding a persistent reference, allowing the device to be deallocated while still in use. A local, unprivileged user can exploit this condition on the receive/forwarding path, leading to a use-after-free. This can result in memory corruption or a denial of service (DoS).
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-09-11 20:26:42 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: mctp: hold a reference to the route device in mctp_route_lookup()

mctp_route_lookup() uses rt->dev without holding a reference on it.
mctp_route_lookup_single() returns the route under RCU only, so the
route's device can be torn down concurrently: mctp_dev_put() drops the
last reference and synchronously kfree()s mdev->addrs.  mctp_dev_saddr()
then reads rt->dev->addrs[0], giving a use-after-free reachable by an
unprivileged local AF_MCTP user on the receive/forwarding path (no
CAP_NET_RAW required):

  BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in mctp_route_lookup
  Read of size 1 at addr ... by task mctp_uaf/...
   mctp_route_lookup
   mctp_pkttype_receive
  Freed by task ...:
   kfree
   mctp_dev_put
   mctp_dev_notify

In the same window mctp_dst_from_route() -> mctp_dev_hold() also
increments a refcount that has already reached zero
("refcount_t: addition on 0 ... mctp_dev_hold").

This reintroduces the use-after-free class of CVE-2023-3439: the source
address lookup was moved ahead of the point where the destination takes
its device reference.

Take a reference with refcount_inc_not_zero() before touching rt->dev,
skip a device that is already dead, and drop the reference once the
destination has taken its own.