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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-53197: Linux kernel · xfrm: iptfs: fix ABBA deadlock in iptfs_destroy_state()

Source GCVE Database

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
5.5Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 2% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 25 Jun 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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

AI-suggested

The fix involves modifying the Linux kernel iptfs code to call hrtimer_cancel() before acquiring the relevant spinlocks. Until an official patch is available and applied, avoid triggering iptfs_destroy_state() operations concurrently on SMP systems if possible.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfrm: iptfs: fix ABBA deadlock in iptfs_destroy_state() iptfs_destroy_state() calls hrtimer_cancel() while holding a spinlock that the timer callback also acquires, leading to an ABBA deadlock on SMP systems. For the output timer (iptfs_timer): - iptfs_destroy_state() holds x->lock, calls hrtimer_cancel() - iptfs_delay_timer() callback takes x->lock For the drop timer (drop_timer): - iptfs_destroy_state() holds drop_lock, calls hrtimer_cancel() - iptfs_drop_timer() callback takes drop_lock Both timers use HRTIMER_MODE_REL_SOFT, so their callbacks run in softirq context. When hrtimer_cancel() is called for a soft timer that is currently executing on another CPU, hrtimer_cancel_wait_running() spins on softirq_expiry_lock -- the same lock held by the softirq running the callback. If the callback is blocked waiting for the spinlock held by the caller of hrtimer_cancel(), a circular dependency forms: CPU 0: holds lock_A -> waits for softirq_expiry_lock CPU 1: holds softirq_expiry_lock -> waits for lock_A Fix by calling hrtimer_cancel() before acquiring the respective locks. hrtimer_cancel() is safe to call without holding any lock and will wait for any in-progress callback to complete. For the output timer, the lock is still acquired afterwards to drain the packet queue. For the drop timer, the lock/unlock pair is removed entirely since it only existed to serialize with the timer callback, which hrtimer_cancel() already guarantees. Found by source code audit.

References

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