VulnerabilityPublished 4 Sep 2026Updated 30 Sep 2026

CVE-2026-80775: Linux kernel · futex: Fix race on the initial mm->futex.phash.ref allocation

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

Not known to be exploited.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

Severity

Medium

Rated by Threat Radar · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 8% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Sep 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.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-f29q-mg8h-pcrg

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-5.5 – 7.0.0-34.34 22 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-aws`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1002.2 – 7.0.0-1013.13 14 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1003.3 – 7.0.0-1014.14 14 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure-fde`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 7.0.0-1003.3 – 7.0.0-1013.13 8 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gcp`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1002.2 – 7.0.0-1013.13 12 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gke`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gke?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 7.0.0-1002.3 – 7.0.0-1007.8 5 affected builds	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A fix for this race condition has been implemented in the Linux kernel. Since no explicit patch links or vendor advisories are provided, users should apply the latest Linux kernel updates that include this fix. Until patched, avoid nested vfork usage patterns that could trigger this race condition.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: futex: Fix race on the initial mm->futex.phash.ref allocation futex_hash_allocate() allocates mm->futex.phash.ref without any locking. Commit d9b05321e21e ("futex: Move futex_hash_free() back to __mmput()") moved the allocation here and assumed that the process has just a single thread at this point. Commit ee9dce44362b ("futex: Drop CLONE_THREAD requirement for private default hash alloc") widened need_futex_hash_allocate_default() to cover any CLONE_VM clone, but left out vfork because the parent is suspended and cannot race. That no longer holds once vfork is nested. If a vfork child calls vfork again and is then killed with SIGKILL, the parent is released from its vfork wait and runs concurrently with the grandchild in the same mm. Neither of them went through futex_hash_allocate_default(). When both call prctl(PR_FUTEX_HASH, PR_FUTEX_HASH_SET_SLOTS) at the same time, each one sees mm->futex.phash.ref as NULL and stores its own percpu counter. Only the last store survives. The counter stored first is no longer reachable from the mm, so the references on it are not seen by __futex_ref_atomic_end(). A private hash that still has references is then considered dead and freed, and a task that still holds one of its buckets writes into freed memory in futex_q_lock(). Store the counter once with cmpxchg() and let the loser free_percpu() its own. The initial reference has to be taken before the store, otherwise another task can install a private hash while the counter is still 0.

Impact

This vulnerability can cause use-after-free memory corruption in the Linux kernel futex subsystem, potentially leading to kernel crashes or instability. There is no information about active exploitation in the wild. The impact is primarily on system stability and security due to unsafe concurrent memory access in specific nested vfork scenarios.

Summary

The vulnerability involves a race on the initial allocation of mm->futex.phash.ref in the Linux kernel futex subsystem. The function futex_hash_allocate() allocates this reference without locking, assuming a single-threaded process context. However, nested vfork scenarios allow concurrent execution of parent and grandchild processes sharing the same memory, bypassing the expected allocation path. Concurrent calls to prctl(PR_FUTEX_HASH, PR_FUTEX_HASH_SET_SLOTS) can cause multiple percpu counters to be stored, with only the last surviving. This leads to references on the first counter being lost, causing it to be freed while still in use, resulting in use-after-free conditions during futex queue locking. The fix involves using atomic compare-and-exchange operations to ensure only one counter is stored and the others are properly freed, preventing the race and memory corruption.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Sep 2026, 11:23 UTC

Technical details

References

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