# CVE-2026-68332: net: airoha: Fix potential use-after-free in airoha_ppe_deinit()

> A use-after-free in the Linux kernel Airoha PPE driver allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges due to missing RCU synchronization.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 10 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68332, GHSA-8c4q-qfph-ff23, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-68332

## What is CVE-2026-68332?

CVE-2026-68332 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 10 Aug 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:

net: airoha: Fix potential use-after-free in airoha_ppe_deinit()

airoha_ppe_deinit() replaces the NPU pointer with NULL via
rcu_replace_pointer() but does not wait for existing RCU readers
to exit before calling ppe_deinit() and airoha_npu_put(). This can
cause a use-after-free if a reader in an RCU read-side critical
section still holds a reference to the NPU when it is freed.

The init path (airoha_ppe_init) already calls synchronize_rcu()
after rcu_assign_pointer(), but the deinit path introduced in
commit 6abcf751bc08 ("net: airoha: Fix schedule while atomic in
airoha_ppe_deinit()") omitted the matching barrier when switching
from rcu_read_lock()/rcu_dereference() to rcu_replace_pointer().

Add synchronize_rcu() before ppe_deinit() to ensure all existing
RCU readers have completed before the NPU resources are released.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-68332?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-68332?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-68332 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-68332 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-68332 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-68332 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 10 Aug 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-2026-68332 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-68332/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68332/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68332
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68332
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-68332

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-68332/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.