# CVE-2026-72390: net/sched: sch_teql: Introduce slaves_lock to avoid race condition and UAF

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's teql scheduler allows a use-after-free, potentially enabling local attackers to execute code or escalate privileges.

- **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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 16 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72390, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72390, GHSA-6rv6-hxhf-8gw6, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72390

## What is CVE-2026-72390?

CVE-2026-72390 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 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/sched: sch_teql: Introduce slaves_lock to avoid race condition and UAF

The teql master->slaves singly linked list is not protected against
multiple writes. It can be mod'ed concurently from teql_master_xmit(),
teql_dequeue(), teql_init() and teql_destroy() without holding any list
lock or RCU protection.

zdi-disclosures@trendmicro.com has demonstrated that the qdisc is freed
after an RCU grace period, but teql_master_xmit() running on another
CPU can still hold a stale pointer into the list, resulting in a
slab-use-after-free:

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in teql_master_xmit+0xf0f/0x16b0
Read of size 8 at addr ffff888013fb0440 by task poc/332
Freed 512-byte region [ffff888013fb0400, ffff888013fb0600) (kmalloc-512)

The fix?
Add a per-master slaves_lock spinlock that serializes all mutations of
master->slaves and the NEXT_SLAVE() links in teql_destroy() and
teql_qdisc_init(). teql_master_xmit() also takes the same slaves_lock
around those updates.
Annotate master->slaves and the per-slave ->next pointer with __rcu and
use the appropriate RCU accessors everywhere they are touched:
rcu_assign_pointer() on the writer side (under slaves_lock),
rcu_dereference_protected() for the writer-side loads (also under
slaves_lock), rcu_dereference_bh() for the loads in teql_master_xmit() and
rtnl_dereference() for the loads in teql_master_open()/teql_master_mtu(),
which run under RTNL.
Pair this with rcu_read_lock_bh()/rcu_read_unlock_bh() around the list
traversal in teql_master_xmit(), so that readers either observe a fully
linked list or are deferred until the in-flight mutation completes. The two
early-return paths in teql_master_xmit() are updated to release the RCU-bh
read-side critical section before returning, since leaving it held would
disable BH on that CPU for good.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72390?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72390?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72390 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72390 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72390 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72390 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 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-2026-72390 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-2026-72390/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72390/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72390
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72390
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72390

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72390/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.