{"id":"DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72139","details":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:  tcp: defer md5sig_info kfree past RCU grace period in tcp_connect  The md5+ao reconciliation in tcp_connect() (net/ipv4/tcp_output.c) has two symmetric branches:  \tif (needs_md5) { \t\ttcp_ao_destroy_sock(sk, false); \t} else if (needs_ao) { \t\ttcp_clear_md5_list(sk); \t\tkfree(rcu_replace_pointer(tp-\u003emd5sig_info, NULL, ...)); \t}  Both branches free a per-socket auth-info object while the socket is in TCP_SYN_SENT and is already on the inet ehash (inserted by inet_hash_connect() in tcp_v4_connect()). Both branches are reachable by softirq RX-path readers that load the corresponding info pointer via implicit RCU before bh_lock_sock_nested() is taken.  The needs_md5 branch is fixed in the prior patch by re-introducing the call_rcu() free in tcp_ao_destroy_sock(): the equivalent per-key loop runs inside tcp_ao_info_free_rcu(), the RCU callback, so by the time it frees each tcp_ao_key all softirq readers that captured the container have already completed rcu_read_unlock().  The needs_ao branch is not symmetric in the same way. The container free can be deferred via kfree_rcu(md5sig, rcu) -- struct tcp_md5sig_info already has the required rcu member (include/net/tcp.h:1999-2002), and the rest of the tree already does this in the tcp_md5sig_info_add() rollback paths (net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:1410, 1436). But the per-key teardown is done by tcp_clear_md5_list() in process context BEFORE the container's RCU grace period: it walks &md5sig-\u003ehead and frees each tcp_md5sig_key with bare hlist_del + kfree. A concurrent softirq reader in __tcp_md5_do_lookup() / __tcp_md5_do_lookup_exact() (tcp_ipv4.c:1253, 1298) walks the same list via hlist_for_each_entry_rcu() and races with that bare kfree on the keys themselves -- a per-key slab use-after-free of the same class as the TCP-AO bug, on the same race window.  Fix this in two halves:    1. Convert the bare kfree() in tcp_connect() to kfree_rcu() so the      md5sig_info container joins the rest of the md5sig lifecycle.      The local-variable lift is mechanical and required because      kfree_rcu() is a macro that expects an lvalue.    2. Make tcp_clear_md5_list() RCU-safe by replacing hlist_del +      kfree(key) with hlist_del_rcu + kfree_rcu(key, rcu). struct      tcp_md5sig_key already carries the rcu member      (include/net/tcp.h:1995) and tcp_md5_do_del()      (net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:1456) already uses kfree_rcu, so this      restores the lifecycle invariant the rest of the file follows      rather than introducing a one-off.  The other caller of tcp_clear_md5_list() is tcp_md5_destruct_sock() (net/ipv4/tcp.c:412), which runs from the sock destructor when the socket is already unhashed and unreachable; the extra grace period there is unnecessary but harmless. Making the helper unconditionally RCU-safe is the cleaner contract.  The needs_ao branch is not reachable by the userns reproducer used to demonstrate the AO-side splat (the repro installs both keys but ends up in the needs_md5 branch because the connect peer matches the MD5 key, not the AO key); however the symmetric race exists and a maintainer touching this code should not have to think about which branch escapes RCU and which one does not.  [also credits to Qihang, who found that this races with tcp-diag]","modified":"2026-08-27T23:06:32.405491815Z","published":"2026-08-15T06:21:31.460Z","upstream":["CVE-2026-72139"],"references":[{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-72139"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"linux","ecosystem":"Debian:14","purl":"pkg:deb/debian/linux?arch=source&distro=forky"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"7.1.5-1"}]}],"versions":["6.12.100-1","6.12.101-1","6.12.105-1","6.12.38-1","6.12.41-1","6.12.43-1","6.12.43-1~bpo12+1","6.12.48-1","6.12.57-1","6.12.57-1~bpo12+1","6.12.63-1","6.12.63-1~bpo12+1","6.12.69-1","6.12.69-1~bpo12+1","6.12.73-1","6.12.73-1~bpo12+1","6.12.74-1","6.12.74-2","6.12.74-2~bpo12+1","6.12.85-1","6.12.85-1~bpo12+1","6.12.86-1","6.12.86-1~bpo12+1","6.12.88-1","6.12.88-1~bpo12+1","6.12.90-1","6.12.90-1~bpo12+1","6.12.90-2","6.12.90-2~bpo12+1","6.12.94-1","6.12.94-1~bpo12+1","6.12.95-1","6.12.95-1~bpo12+1","6.12.96-1","6.13.10-1~exp1","6.13.11-1~exp1","6.13.2-1~exp1","6.13.3-1~exp1","6.13.4-1~exp1","6.13.5-1~exp1","6.13.6-1~exp1","6.13.7-1~exp1","6.13.8-1~exp1","6.13.9-1~exp1","6.13~rc6-1~exp1","6.13~rc7-1~exp1","6.14.3-1~exp1","6.14.5-1~exp1","6.14.6-1~exp1","6.15-1~exp1","6.15.1-1~exp1","6.15.2-1~exp1","6.15.3-1~exp1","6.15.4-1~exp1","6.15.5-1~exp1","6.15.6-1~exp1","6.15~rc7-1~exp1","6.16-1~exp1","6.16.1-1~exp1","6.16.10-1","6.16.11-1","6.16.12-1","6.16.12-1~bpo13+1","6.16.12-2","6.16.3-1","6.16.3-1~bpo13+1","6.16.5-1","6.16.6-1","6.16.7-1","6.16.8-1","6.16.9-1","6.16~rc7-1~exp1","6.17.10-1","6.17.11-1","6.17.12-1","6.17.13-1","6.17.13-1~bpo13+1","6.17.2-1~exp1","6.17.5-1~exp1","6.17.6-1","6.17.7-1","6.17.7-2","6.17.8-1","6.17.8-1~bpo13+1","6.17.9-1","6.18.1-1~exp1","6.18.10-1","6.18.12-1","6.18.12-1~bpo13+1","6.18.13-1","6.18.14-1","6.18.15-1","6.18.15-1~bpo13+1","6.18.2-1~exp1","6.18.3-1","6.18.5-1","6.18.5-1~bpo13+1","6.18.8-1","6.18.9-1","6.18.9-1~bpo13+1","6.18~rc4-1~exp1","6.18~rc4-1~exp2","6.18~rc5-1~exp1","6.18~rc6-1~exp1","6.18~rc7-1~exp1","6.19-1~exp1","6.19.10-1","6.19.10-1~bpo13+1","6.19.11-1","6.19.11-1~bpo13+1","6.19.12-1","6.19.13-1","6.19.13-1~bpo13+1","6.19.14-1","6.19.14-1~bpo13+1","6.19.2-1~exp1","6.19.3-1~exp1","6.19.4-1~exp1","6.19.5-1~exp1","6.19.6-1","6.19.6-2","6.19.6-2~bpo13+1","6.19.8-1","6.19.8-1~bpo13+1","6.19~rc4-1~exp1","6.19~rc5-1~exp1","6.19~rc6-1~exp1","6.19~rc7-1~exp1","6.19~rc8-1~exp1","7.0-1~exp1","7.0.1-1~exp1","7.0.10-1","7.0.10-1~bpo13+1","7.0.12-1","7.0.12-2","7.0.12-2~bpo13+1","7.0.13-1","7.0.13-1~bpo13+1","7.0.14-1","7.0.3-1","7.0.4-1","7.0.4-1~bpo13+1","7.0.7-1","7.0.7-1~bpo13+1","7.0.9-1","7.0.9-1~bpo13+1","7.1.1-1~exp1","7.1.2-1~exp1","7.1.3-1","7.1.3-1+sunvdc","7.1.3-1~bpo13+1","7.1.4-1","7.1~rc2-1~exp1","7.1~rc3-1~exp1","7.1~rc4-1~exp1","7.1~rc4-1~exp2","7.1~rc5-1~exp1","7.1~rc7-1~exp1"],"ecosystem_specific":{"urgency":"not yet assigned"},"database_specific":{"source":"https://storage.googleapis.com/osv-test-debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72139.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.9.0","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"}]}