In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crash_dump: release keyring reference at the correct time restore_dm_crypt_keys_to_thread_keyring() gets a reference to the user keyring before restoring the saved dm-…

Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

crash_dump: release keyring reference at the correct time

restore_dm_crypt_keys_to_thread_keyring() gets a reference to the user keyring before restoring the saved dm-crypt keys.

The same keyring reference is then passed to add_key_to_keyring() for each saved key, but add_key_to_keyring() drops that reference on every call. This is only balanced when exactly one key is restored. With multiple keys, the keyring reference is dropped too many times and may trigger a refcount underflow or use-after-free.

When more than five keys are restored, a refcount underflow/use-after-free warning can be triggered.

The early error paths after lookup_user_key() also return without dropping the keyring reference.

Keep ownership of the keyring reference in restore_dm_crypt_keys_to_thread_keyring(), drop it once on all exit paths, and make add_key_to_keyring() only use the reference without consuming it.

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 2026-10-23 · vex