CVE-2026-64434 Bluetooth: L2CAP: Fix UAF in channel timeout by holding conn ref
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel Bluetooth L2CAP subsystem allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges via a race condition during channel timeout.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-64434?
CVE-2026-64434 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 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:
Bluetooth: L2CAP: Fix UAF in channel timeout by holding conn ref
l2cap_chan_timeout() runs asynchronously and accesses chan->conn. If the connection is torn down while the timer is running or pending, chan->conn can be freed, leading to a use-after-free when the timer worker attempts to lock conn->lock:
| BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in instrument_atomic_read_write include/linux/instrumented.h:112 [inline] | BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in atomic_long_try_cmpxchg_acquire include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:4456 [inline] | BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __mutex_trylock_fast kernel/locking/mutex.c:161 [inline] | BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in mutex_lock+0x4f/0xa0 kernel/locking/mutex.c:318 | Write of size 8 at addr ffff8881298d9550 by task kworker/2:1/83 | | CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 83 Comm: kworker/2:1 Not tainted 7.1.0-rc6-next-20260601-dirty #6 PREEMPT(full) | Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.17.0-debian-1.17.0-1 04/01/2014 | Workqueue: events l2cap_chan_timeout | Call Trace: | <TASK> | instrument_atomic_read_write include/linux/instrumented.h:112 [inline] | atomic_long_try_cmpxchg_acquire include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:4456 [inline] | __mutex_trylock_fast kernel/locking/mutex.c:161 [inline] | mutex_lock+0x4f/0xa0 kernel/locking/mutex.c:318 | l2cap_chan_timeout+0x5d/0x1b0 net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:422 | process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3326 [inline] | process_scheduled_works+0x7c8/0xfb0 kernel/workqueue.c:3409 | worker_thread+0x8a9/0xcf0 kernel/workqueue.c:3490 | kthread+0x346/0x430 kernel/kthread.c:436 | ret_from_fork+0x1a3/0x470 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158 | ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245 | </TASK> | | Allocated by task 320: | l2cap_conn_add+0xa7/0x820 net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:7075 | l2cap_connect_cfm+0xdb/0xd70 net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:7452 | hci_connect_cfm include/net/bluetooth/hci_core.h:2139 [inline] | hci_remote_features_evt+0x52f/0x9f0 net/bluetooth/hci_event.c:3760 | hci_event_func net/bluetooth/hci_event.c:7796 [inline] | hci_event_packet+0x561/0xa70 net/bluetooth/hci_event.c:7847 | hci_rx_work+0x370/0x890 net/bluetooth/hci_core.c:4040 | process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3326 [inline] | process_scheduled_works+0x7c8/0xfb0 kernel/workqueue.c:3409 | worker_thread+0x8a9/0xcf0 kernel/workqueue.c:3490 | kthread+0x346/0x430 kernel/kthread.c:436 | ret_from_fork+0x1a3/0x470 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158 | ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245 | | Freed by task 322: | hci_disconn_cfm include/net/bluetooth/hci_core.h:2154 [inline] | hci_conn_hash_flush+0x101/0x1f0 net/bluetooth/hci_conn.c:2736 | hci_dev_close_sync+0x889/0xde0 net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:5405 | hci_dev_do_close net/bluetooth/hci_core.c:502 [inline] | hci_unregister_dev+0x1f7/0x370 net/bluetooth/hci_core.c:2679 | vhci_release+0x12a/0x180 drivers/bluetooth/hci_vhci.c:690 | __fput+0x369/0x890 fs/file_table.c:510 | task_work_run+0x160/0x1d0 kernel/task_work.c:233 | get_signal+0xf5b/0x1120 kernel/signal.c:2810 | arch_do_signal_or_restart+0x4d/0x600 arch/x86/kernel/signal.c:337 | __exit_to_user_mode_loop kernel/entry/common.c:64 [inline] | exit_to_user_mode_loop+0x85/0x510 kernel/entry/common.c:98 | do_syscall_64+0x263/0x3d0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:100 | entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f | | The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff8881298d9400 | which belongs to the cache kmalloc-512 of size 512 | The buggy address is located 336 bytes inside of | freed 512-byte region [ffff8881298d9400, ffff8881298d9600)
Fix it by having chan->conn hold a reference to l2cap_conn (via l2cap_conn_get) when the channel is added to the connection, and releasing it in the channel destructor. This ensures the l2cap_conn remains alive as long as the channel exists.
A new FLAG_DEL channel flag is introduced to indicate that the ch ---truncated---
Weakness: CWE-416
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-64434?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-64434?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-64434 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-64434 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-93545, BELL-CVE-2026-64434, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-64434, GHSA-9wm7-g2v6-vprf, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-64434, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-64434 and 2 more.