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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: zram: fix use-after-free in zram_writeback_endio A crash was observed in… (CVE-2026-63951)

0
High
Published: 07/19/2026 (07/19/2026, 18:31:47 UTC)
Source: GCVE Database

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: zram: fix use-after-free in zram_writeback_endio A crash was observed in zram_writeback_endio due to a NULL pointer dereference in wake_up. The root cause is a race condition between the bio completion handler (zram_writeback_endio) and the writeback task. In zram_writeback_endio, wake_up() is called on &wb_ctl->done_wait after releasing wb_ctl->done_lock. This creates a race window where the writeback task can see num_inflight become 0, return, and free wb_ctl before zram_writeback_endio calls wake_up(). CPU 0 (zram_writeback_endio) CPU 1 (writeback_store) ============================ ============================ zram_writeback_slots zram_submit_wb_request zram_submit_wb_request wait_event(wb_ctl->done_wait) spin_lock(&wb_ctl->done_lock); list_add(&req->entry, &wb_ctl->done_reqs); spin_unlock(&wb_ctl->done_lock); wake_up(&wb_ctl->done_wait); zram_complete_done_reqs spin_lock(&wb_ctl->done_lock); list_add(&req->entry, &wb_ctl->done_reqs); spin_unlock(&wb_ctl->done_lock); while (num_inflight) > 0) spin_lock(&wb_ctl->done_lock); list_del(&req->entry); spin_unlock(&wb_ctl->done_lock); // num_inflight becomes 0 atomic_dec(num_inflight); // Leave zram_writeback_slots // Free wb_ctl release_wb_ctl(wb_ctl); // UAF crash! wake_up(&wb_ctl->done_wait); This patch fixes this race by using RCU. By protecting wb_ctl with rcu_read_lock() in zram_writeback_endio and using kfree_rcu() to free it, we ensure that wb_ctl remains valid during the execution of zram_writeback_endio.

CVSS v3.1

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

AI-Powered Analysis

Machine-generated threat intelligence

AILast updated: 07/19/2026, 20:04:42 UTC

Technical Analysis

The Linux kernel's zram subsystem contained a use-after-free vulnerability in the zram_writeback_endio function. This was caused by a race condition where wake_up() was called on a data structure (wb_ctl->done_wait) after the structure could have been freed by another concurrent writeback task. Specifically, the writeback task could observe num_inflight reaching zero, return, and free wb_ctl before zram_writeback_endio called wake_up(), leading to a NULL pointer dereference and crash. The patch addressed this by protecting wb_ctl with rcu_read_lock() and freeing it with kfree_rcu(), ensuring the data remains valid during the completion handler execution.

Potential Impact

The vulnerability can cause a kernel crash due to a NULL pointer dereference triggered by a race condition in the zram writeback code. This could lead to denial of service on affected systems. There is no information about exploitation in the wild or privilege escalation.

Mitigation Recommendations

A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel by applying RCU locking and deferred freeing (kfree_rcu) to prevent the use-after-free condition. Users should update their Linux kernel to a version that includes this patch. Patch status is not explicitly confirmed in the provided data; check the vendor or Linux kernel advisories for the exact fixed versions and apply updates accordingly.

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Technical Details

Gcve Source
db.gcve.eu
Osv Id
GHSA-jmwm-428x-w863
Osv Schema Version
1.4.0
Aliases
["CVE-2026-63951"]
Ecosystems
[]
Database Specific Severity
null
Cvss Version
null

Threat ID: 6a5d27aa2a4a8d598912e89d

Added to database: 07/19/2026, 19:38:18 UTC

Last enriched: 07/19/2026, 20:04:42 UTC

Last updated: 07/20/2026, 21:51:41 UTC

Views: 12

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