CVE-2026-64525

EUVD-2026-49037
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

xfrm: move policy_bydst RCU sync from per-netns .exit to .pre_exit

The struct pernet_operations docstring in include/net/net_namespace.h
explicitly warns against blocking RCU primitives in .exit handlers:

    Exit methods using blocking RCU primitives, such as
    synchronize_rcu(), should be implemented via exit_batch.
    [...]
    Please, avoid synchronize_rcu() at all, where it's possible.

    Note that a combination of pre_exit() and exit() can
    be used, since a synchronize_rcu() is guaranteed between
    the calls.

xfrm_policy_fini() violates this: it calls synchronize_rcu() before
freeing the policy_bydst hash tables (so no RCU reader is mid-
traversal at free time), but runs from xfrm_net_ops.exit -- once per
namespace -- so a cleanup_net() of N namespaces pays N full RCU
grace periods serially.

Use the documented pre_exit/exit split. Move the policy flush (and
the workqueue drains it depends on) into a new .pre_exit handler;
xfrm_policy_fini() then runs in .exit and frees the hash tables
after the synchronize_rcu_expedited() that cleanup_net() guarantees
between the two phases. Providing O(1) RCU grace periods per batch
instead of O(N).

Observed on Linux 6.18 with a workload doing unshare(CLONE_NEWNET)
at ~13/sec sustained: cleanup_net() and the netns_wq rescuer kthread
both stuck in xfrm_policy_fini()'s synchronize_rcu(), >300k struct
net accumulated in the cleanup queue, Percpu in /proc/meminfo climbed
to 130+ GB on 256-CPU hosts, and memcg OOMs followed. setup_net and
__put_net counts were balanced, ruling out a refcount leak.
ProviderTypeBase ScoreAtk. VectorAtk. ComplexityPriv. RequiredVector
NISTPrimary
UNKNOWN
---
Awaiting analysis
This vulnerability is currently awaiting analysis.
Base Score
CVSS 3.x
EPSS Score
Percentile: 11%
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linux
bookworm
6.1.176-1
fixed
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6.1.177-1
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5.10.223-1
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sid
7.1.4-1
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6.12.94-1
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trixie (security)
6.12.96-1
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