# CVE-2026-64119: l2tp: use list_del_rcu in l2tp_session_unhash

> A race condition in the Linux kernel L2TP module allows local users to cause a CPU lockup and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 19 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-64119, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-64119, GHSA-pjh2-pg7v-jm22, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-64119

## What is CVE-2026-64119?

CVE-2026-64119 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jul 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:

l2tp: use list_del_rcu in l2tp_session_unhash

An unprivileged local user can pin a host CPU indefinitely in
l2tp_session_get_by_ifname() by issuing L2TP_CMD_SESSION_GET on
L2TP_ATTR_IFNAME concurrently with L2TP_CMD_SESSION_CREATE and
L2TP_CMD_SESSION_DELETE on the same tunnel. All three commands take
GENL_UNS_ADMIN_PERM, so CAP_NET_ADMIN in the netns user namespace
suffices; on any host that has l2tp_core loaded the trigger is
reachable from a standard `unshare -Urn` sandbox.

l2tp_session_unhash() removes a session from tunnel->session_list
with list_del_init(), but that list is walked by
l2tp_session_get_by_ifname() with list_for_each_entry_rcu() under
rcu_read_lock_bh(). list_del_init() leaves the deleted entry's
next/prev self-pointing; a reader that has loaded the entry and
then advances pos->list.next reads &session->list, container_of()s
back to the same session, and list_for_each_entry_rcu() never
reaches the list head. The CPU stays in strcmp() inside the
walker, with BH and preemption disabled, so RCU grace periods on
the host stall behind it and the wedged thread cannot be killed
(SIGKILL is delivered on syscall return).

Use list_del_rcu() to match the existing list_add_rcu() in
l2tp_session_register(); the deleted session remains visible to
in-flight walkers with consistent next/prev pointers until
kfree_rcu() in l2tp_session_free() releases it. tunnel->session_list
has exactly one list_del_init() call site; the list_del_init
(&session->clist) at l2tp_core.c:533 operates on the per-collision
list, which is not walked under RCU. list_empty(&session->list) is
not used anywhere in net/l2tp/ after the unhash point, so dropping
the post-delete self-init is safe; the fix has no userspace-visible
behavior change.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-64119?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-64119?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-64119 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-64119 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-2026-64119 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-64119 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jul 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-2026-64119 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-2026-64119/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-64119/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-64119
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-64119
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-64119

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-64119/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.