# CVE-2026-45910: RDMA/rxe: Fix race condition in QP timer handlers

> A race condition in the Linux kernel RDMA driver can cause a use-after-free warning and potential system instability during Queue Pair destruction.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 May 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-45910, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-45910, GHSA-ghcq-8j2m-vfjm, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-45910, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-45910

## What is CVE-2026-45910?

CVE-2026-45910 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

RDMA/rxe: Fix race condition in QP timer handlers

I encontered the following warning:
 WARNING: drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_task.c:249 at rxe_sched_task+0x1c8/0x238 [rdma_rxe], CPU#0: swapper/0/0
...
  libsha1 [last unloaded: ip6_udp_tunnel]
 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Tainted: G         C          6.19.0-rc5-64k-v8+ #37 PREEMPT
 Tainted: [C]=CRAP
 Hardware name: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.2
 Call trace:
  rxe_sched_task+0x1c8/0x238 [rdma_rxe] (P)
  retransmit_timer+0x130/0x188 [rdma_rxe]
  call_timer_fn+0x68/0x4d0
  __run_timers+0x630/0x888
...
 WARNING: drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_task.c:38 at rxe_sched_task+0x1c0/0x238 [rdma_rxe], CPU#0: swapper/0/0
...
 WARNING: drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_task.c:111 at do_work+0x488/0x5c8 [rdma_rxe], CPU#3: kworker/u17:4/93400
...
 refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free.
 WARNING: lib/refcount.c:28 at refcount_warn_saturate+0x138/0x1a0, CPU#3: kworker/u17:4/93400

The issue is caused by a race condition between retransmit_timer() and
rxe_destroy_qp, leading to the Queue Pair's (QP) reference count dropping
to zero during timer handler execution.

It seems this warning is harmless because rxe_qp_do_cleanup() will flush
all pending timers and requests.

Example of flow causing the issue:

CPU0                                   CPU1
retransmit_timer() {
    spin_lock_irqsave
                           rxe_destroy_qp()
                            __rxe_cleanup()
                              __rxe_put() // qp->ref_count decrease to 0
                            rxe_qp_do_cleanup() {
    if (qp->valid) {
        rxe_sched_task() {
            WARN_ON(rxe_read(task->qp) <= 0);
        }
    }
    spin_unlock_irqrestore
}
                              spin_lock_irqsave
                              qp->valid = 0
                              spin_unlock_irqrestore
                            }

Ensure the QP's reference count is maintained and its validity is checked
within the timer callbacks by adding calls to rxe_get(qp) and corresponding
rxe_put(qp) after use.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45910?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-45910?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-45910 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45910 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-45910 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-45910 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45910 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45910/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45910/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45910
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45910
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-45910

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45910/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.