Bug 2536390 (CVE-2026-90201)

Summary: CVE-2026-90201 kernel: net: page_pool: fix UAF in __page_pool_release_netmem_dma on xa_cmpxchg race
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
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 `page_pool` networking component. A race condition can occur when the `page_pool_destroy()` function runs concurrently with page return operations. This race condition can lead to a Use-After-Free (UAF) vulnerability, where the system attempts to access memory after it has been freed. This could potentially allow an attacker to cause a denial of service or execute arbitrary code.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-09-17 17:41:12 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: page_pool: fix UAF in __page_pool_release_netmem_dma on xa_cmpxchg race

This bug was discovered while testing the hns3 driver under channel
reconfiguration (`ethtool -L` / `ethtool -G`) with iperf3 traffic on
arm64. The race is intermittently triggered when page_pool_destroy()
runs page_pool_scrub() concurrently with page return via
page_pool_put_netmem() on a different CPU. A WARN in
page_pool_clear_pp_info() surfaced the dangling DMA index bits left
by the cmpxchg loser, which led to the investigation.

page_pool_scrub() iterates pool->dma_mapped via xa_for_each() with no
page ref held. __page_pool_release_netmem_dma() currently reads and
writes netmem fields (dma_addr, DMA index bits in pp_magic) after
xa_cmpxchg() returns. The unref path calls put_page() unconditionally
regardless of the cmpxchg outcome; when it loses the cmpxchg, it still
frees the page before the scrub winner finishes these netmem accesses,
so scrub touches a freed page -- a Use-After-Free.

Fix this by splitting the DMA release into two functions:

1. __page_pool_unmap_netmem_dma() caches dma_addr before xa_cmpxchg(),
   does the cmpxchg to remove the DMA mapping, and calls dma_unmap on
   the cached address. It never touches netmem fields after the cmpxchg,
   making it safe for the scrub path which holds no page ref.

2. __page_pool_release_netmem_dma() wraps the above and additionally
   clears dma_addr and DMA index bits in netmem fields. This is safe
   only when the caller holds a page ref, so it is used by the return
   path (page_pool_return_netmem).

The scrub path calls __page_pool_unmap_netmem_dma() directly; the return
path calls __page_pool_release_netmem_dma().