Bug 2541043 (CVE-2026-97611)

Summary: CVE-2026-97611 kernel: net: openvswitch: fix use-after-free of the flow table mask array
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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Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Open vSwitch subsystem. A race condition during the reallocation of internal flow table structures allows memory to be freed while it is still being accessed by packet processing routines, causing a use-after-free condition. An attacker can exploit this flaw during flow table updates to cause a system crash resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) or potentially escalate privileges.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-09-25 10:44:52 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: openvswitch: fix use-after-free of the flow table mask array

tbl_mask_array_realloc() retires the old mask_array before it stops being
reachable:

	old = ovsl_dereference(tbl->mask_array);
	if (old) {
		...
		call_rcu(&old->rcu, mask_array_rcu_cb);
	}

	rcu_assign_pointer(tbl->mask_array, new);

call_rcu() only waits for read-side critical sections already in flight.
tbl->mask_array still points at old between the call_rcu() and the
rcu_assign_pointer(), so a reader entering ovs_flow_tbl_lookup_stats() in
that window picks up old in a fresh critical section that the pending
grace period does not cover.

tbl_mask_array_realloc() runs in process context under ovs_mutex, so the
window is preemptible and can outlast the grace period. Then
mask_array_rcu_cb() frees old before the swap runs:

  BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in flow_lookup.constprop.0+0x2bf/0x2f0
  Read of size 8 at addr ffff888020b3e018 by task poc/741
   flow_lookup.constprop.0+0x2bf/0x2f0
   ovs_flow_tbl_lookup_stats+0x4a3/0x5c0
   ovs_dp_process_packet+0x19c/0x710
   ovs_vport_receive+0x243/0x390
   internal_dev_xmit+0x81/0x170
  Freed by task 728:
   kfree+0x16a/0x4e0
   rcu_core+0x853/0x1030

Publish the new array before retiring the old one. The kfree_rcu() that
call_rcu() replaced ran after the swap.