--- id: CVE-2026-80981 title: 'net/smc: fix use-after-free of the LLC qentry in smc_llc_srv_add_link()' summary: |- In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/smc: fix use-after-free of the LLC qentry in smc_llc_srv_add_link() smc_llc_srv_add_link() keeps add_llc pointing into the queue entry: add_llc = &qentry->msg.a… severity: critical cvss: 9.8 cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H' cvssSource: cna cwe: - CWE-825 vendor: Linux product: Linux affected: - >- Linux >= 27ef6a9981fe74191849966a6d5e0400a4008ab8 < c52a998a223e7e84333306996edec096178d1e95 - >- Linux >= 27ef6a9981fe74191849966a6d5e0400a4008ab8 < adef84cc85d449ac28d2b4b4c49cf19619c56e27 - >- Linux >= 27ef6a9981fe74191849966a6d5e0400a4008ab8 < a42a459ef0e54cb0c4b3e43e21cb0e658e664f64 - Linux 6.14 published: '2026-09-11' updated: '2026-10-19' sourceUpdated: '2026-10-19T08:46:05.740Z' source: CVEORG sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-80981' references: - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c52a998a223e7e84333306996edec096178d1e95' - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/adef84cc85d449ac28d2b4b4c49cf19619c56e27' - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a42a459ef0e54cb0c4b3e43e21cb0e658e664f64' - url: >- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-80981.json - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-80981' - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2532104' - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-80981' - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-80981' - url: >- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-80981.mbox tags: - cve.org - csaf - vex - red-hat - score-dispute epss: 0.00631 epssPercentile: 0.50048 scores: cna: 9.8 vendor: 7 ingestedAt: '2026-09-14T15:23:07.476Z' --- ## Overview In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/smc: fix use-after-free of the LLC qentry in smc_llc_srv_add_link() smc_llc_srv_add_link() keeps add_llc pointing into the queue entry: add_llc = &qentry->msg.add_link; smc_llc.c:1482 ... smc_llc_save_add_link_info(link_new, add_llc); smc_llc.c:1494 smc_llc_flow_qentry_del(&lgr->llc_flow_lcl); smc_llc.c:1495 ... u8 *llc_msg = smc_link_shared_v2_rxbuf(link) ? (u8 *)lgr->wr_rx_buf_v2 : (u8 *)add_llc; smc_llc.c:1504 smc_llc_save_add_link_rkeys(link, link_new, llc_msg); smc_llc.c:1506 smc_llc_flow_qentry_del() kfree()s the entry, so on a link without a shared v2 receive buffer the pointer handed to smc_llc_save_add_link_rkeys() is already freed. Before the Fixes: commit that branch always used lgr->wr_rx_buf_v2 and add_llc was not used after the free. Reproduced on an unpatched tree over rxe, with KASAN, kasan_multi_shot and a link forced to max_recv_sge == 1: the entry is freed and read by the same call, and the freeing frame is smc_llc_srv_add_link() itself. [ 2.523161] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in smc_llc_save_add_link_rkeys+0x333/0x350 [ 2.523499] Read of size 2 at addr ffff8880052194de by task kworker/0:1/11 [ 2.523789] [ 2.523862] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 11 Comm: kworker/0:1 Not tainted 7.2.0-rc5-p0-g2c9dd296545d #35 PREEMPT(lazy) [ 2.523865] Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC v2 (i440FX + PIIX, arch_caps fix, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 2.523866] Workqueue: smc_hs_wq smc_listen_work [ 2.523869] Call Trace: [ 2.523870] [ 2.523871] dump_stack_lvl+0x53/0x70 [ 2.523872] print_report+0xd0/0x630 [ 2.523874] ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x10/0x10 [ 2.523876] ? smc_llc_save_add_link_rkeys+0x333/0x350 [ 2.523878] kasan_report+0xce/0x100 [ 2.523879] ? smc_llc_save_add_link_rkeys+0x333/0x350 [ 2.523881] smc_llc_save_add_link_rkeys+0x333/0x350 [ 2.523883] ? smcr_buf_reg_lgr+0x2a4/0x660 [ 2.523885] smc_llc_srv_add_link+0xaa2/0x1e50 [ 2.523888] ? _printk+0xba/0xf0 [ 2.523897] ? __pfx_smc_llc_srv_add_link+0x10/0x10 [ 2.523899] ? down_write+0xb0/0x130 [ 2.523903] ? __pfx_down_write+0x10/0x10 [ 2.523905] smc_listen_work+0x489e/0x4d00 [ 2.523907] ? kmem_cache_free+0x1c6/0x3a0 [ 2.523911] ? __pfx_smc_listen_work+0x10/0x10 [ 2.523913] ? release_sock+0x148/0x1d0 [ 2.523915] ? smc_tcp_listen_work+0xb4f/0xfc0 [ 2.523917] ? _raw_spin_lock_irq+0x80/0xe0 [ 2.523918] ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irq+0x10/0x10 [ 2.523920] process_one_work+0x633/0x1030 [ 2.523922] ? assign_work+0x11d/0x370 [ 2.523924] worker_thread+0x45b/0xd10 [ 2.523926] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [ 2.523928] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [ 2.523929] kthread+0x2c6/0x3b0 [ 2.523931] ? recalc_sigpending+0x15c/0x1e0 [ 2.523934] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 2.523935] ret_from_fork+0x36e/0x5a0 [ 2.523937] ? __pfx_ret_from_fork+0x10/0x10 [ 2.523938] ? __switch_to+0x572/0xdd0 [ 2.523943] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 2.523944] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 2.523947] [ 2.523948] [ 2.531253] Allocated by task 48: [ 2.531399] kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 [ 2.531570] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 2.531737] __kasan_kmalloc+0x8f/0xa0 [ 2.531905] __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x158/0x370 [ 2.532100] smc_llc_enqueue+0x72/0x560 [ 2.532268] smc_wr_rx_tasklet_fn+0x474/0xa80 [ 2.532491] tasklet_action_common+0x20f/0x8a0 [ 2.532714] handle_softirqs+0x18e/0x590 [ 2.532886] do_softirq+0x3b/0x60 [ 2.533036] __local_bh_enable_ip+0x61/0x70 [ 2.533221] __alloc_skb+0x732/0x890 [ 2.533384] rxe_init_packet+0x16b/0x4f0 [ 2.533567] prepare_ack_packet+0xb8/0x830 [ 2.533760] rxe_receiver+0x495/0x96e0 [ 2.533933] do_work+0x144/0x470 [ 2 ---truncated--- ## Affected - `Linux >= 27ef6a9981fe74191849966a6d5e0400a4008ab8 < c52a998a223e7e84333306996edec096178d1e95` - `Linux >= 27ef6a9981fe74191849966a6d5e0400a4008ab8 < adef84cc85d449ac28d2b4b4c49cf19619c56e27` - `Linux >= 27ef6a9981fe74191849966a6d5e0400a4008ab8 < a42a459ef0e54cb0c4b3e43e21cb0e658e664f64` - `Linux 6.14` ## Remediation Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges. ## Vendor advisories - **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · updated 2026-09-14 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-80981.json)