CVE-2026-31579: Linux kernel · wireguard: device: use exit_rtnl callback instead of manual rtnl_lock in pre_exit
Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · fixed in a1d0f6cbb962af29586e3e65a4bced1a5e39221f : update Linux kernel when convenient.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC
Rated by Threat Radar · No CVSS score from NVD or the CNA
- EPSS
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 4% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in a1d0f6cbb962af29586e3e65a4bced1a5e39221f, 707607db2193591b68c0e70f814133472c185b1e, 60a25ef8dacb3566b1a8c4de00572a498e2a3bf9 +3
Exploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 24 Apr 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wireguard: device: use exit_rtnl callback instead of manual rtnl_lock in pre_exit wg_netns_pre_exit() manually acquires rtnl_lock() inside the pernet .pre_exit callback. This causes a hung task when another thread holds rtnl_mutex - the cleanup_net workqueue (or the setup_net failure rollback path) blocks indefinitely in wg_netns_pre_exit() waiting to acquire the lock. Convert to .exit_rtnl, introduced in commit 7a60d91c690b ("net: Add ->exit_rtnl() hook to struct pernet_operations."), where the framework already holds RTNL and batches all callbacks under a single rtnl_lock()/rtnl_unlock() pair, eliminating the contention window. The rcu_assign_pointer(wg->creating_net, NULL) is safe to move from .pre_exit to .exit_rtnl (which runs after synchronize_rcu()) because all RCU readers of creating_net either use maybe_get_net() - which returns NULL for a dying namespace with zero refcount - or access net->user_ns which remains valid throughout the entire ops_undo_list sequence. [ Jason: added __net_exit and __read_mostly annotations that were missing. ]
References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/707607db2193591b68c0e70f814133472c185b1e (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/9a9e69155b2091b8297afaf1533b8d68a3096841 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c52ef00e391144334f10995985c2f256d4be982 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/a1d0f6cbb962af29586e3e65a4bced1a5e39221f (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/60a25ef8dacb3566b1a8c4de00572a498e2a3bf9 (opens in a new tab)