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Fencer Intel
high 7.8

CVE-2026-63918 json

l2tp: use refcount_inc_not_zero in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname

published 3mo ago modified 12d ago also EUVD-2026-45691

cvss
7.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.2%
EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 5%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

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

l2tp: use refcount_inc_not_zero in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname

A reader in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname() can return a pointer to a session whose refcount has reached zero. The getter takes its reference with plain refcount_inc(), but every other session getter in the same file (l2tp_v2_session_get, l2tp_v3_session_get, and the corresponding _get_next variants) uses refcount_inc_not_zero() because the IDR/RCU lookup can race with refcount_dec_and_test() -> l2tp_session_free() -> kfree_rcu(). The ifname getter is the only outlier; the inconsistency was raised on-list after 979c017803c4 ("l2tp: use list_del_rcu in l2tp_session_unhash").

A reader inside rcu_read_lock_bh() that matches session->ifname can be preempted between the strcmp() and the refcount_inc(). If the last reference drops on another CPU in that window, the reader's refcount_inc() runs on a counter that has reached zero. refcount_t catches the addition-on-zero, prints "refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free", saturates the counter, and returns the saturated pointer to the caller. Session memory is held live by the in-flight RCU read section, but the kfree_rcu() callback queued from l2tp_session_free() will free it once the grace period closes; a caller that dereferences the returned session past that point hits a slab-use-after-free. On PREEMPT_RT local_bh_disable() is a per-CPU sleeping lock and the preemption window is real; on stock PREEMPT kernels local_bh_disable() is a preempt_count increment that closes the cross-CPU race in practice (see below).

Use refcount_inc_not_zero() and continue the list walk on failure, matching the other session getters in the file. The ifname getter is the only session getter in net/l2tp/ that still uses the bare refcount_inc() pattern; this change restores file-internal consistency. The success path is unchanged.

Patch / fix

  • Linux Linux 6.12.93, 6.18.35, 7.0.12, 7.1
  • linux Debian 13 6.12.94-1
  • linux Debian 14 7.0.12-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-63918

  • linux Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-28.28
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1009.9
  • linux-gcp Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1008.8
  • linux-gke Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1003.4
  • linux-ibm Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1010.10
  • linux-azure Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1010.10
  • linux-raspi Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1015.15
  • linux-riscv Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-28.28.1

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-63918

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • kernel-rt Linux Micro 6.2 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • kernel-64kb SLES 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • kernel-source SLES 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • kernel-default SLES 16.0, SLE High Availability Extension 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2 +1 more 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • kernel-default-base SLES 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.23
  • kernel-syms SLES 16.0, Linux Micro Extras 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • kernel-azure SLES for SAP applications 16.0, SLES 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • kernel-obs-qa SLES for SAP applications 16.0, SLES 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:23887-1SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1SUSE-SU-2026:23897-1SUSE-SU-2026:23881-1

  • kernel-rt openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • dtb-aarch64 openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • kernel-64kb openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • kernel-syms openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • kernel-azure openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • kernel-obs-qa openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • kernel-source openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1
  • kernel-default openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.38.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1

  • kernel AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2
  • rv AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2
  • perf AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2
  • rtla AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2
  • libperf AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2
  • kernel-rt AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2
  • kernel-64k AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2
  • kernel-core AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2

almalinux advisories ALSA-2026:76738

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Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2026-63918 updated cvss 4.7

kernel: l2tp: use refcount_inc_not_zero in l2tp_session_get_by_ifname

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernel-modules-internal 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) rv 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, perf 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, rtla 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, python3-perf 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-devel-matched 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-devel-matched 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, +7 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) kernel 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-64k 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-core 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-tools 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-modules 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-core 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, +28 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) libperf 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Hidden (v. 10) kernel-modules-internal 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 10) kernel-rt 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-64k 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-core 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-modules 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-64k-core 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-debug-core 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, +14 more
    +1 more products
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 10) kernel-rt 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-core 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-modules 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-debug-core 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-modules-core 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-debug-modules 6.12.0-211.63.1.el10_2, +4 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:76738
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +83 more
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

0.16% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 5% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-11).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

  • Linux Linux

Classification

Weakness
Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.