CVE-2026-74575 thunderbolt: Prevent XDomain delayed work use-after-free on disconnect
A race condition in the Linux kernel Thunderbolt driver allows a use-after-free during device disconnect, potentially leading to code execution or system crash.
- 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-2026-74575?
CVE-2026-74575 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:
thunderbolt: Prevent XDomain delayed work use-after-free on disconnect
tb_xdp_handle_request() runs on system_wq and queues xd->state_work via queue_delayed_work() in three request handlers: PROPERTIES_CHANGED_REQUEST, UUID_REQUEST (via start_handshake), and LINK_STATE_CHANGE_REQUEST. Similarly, update_xdomain() queues xd->properties_changed_work when local properties change.
Concurrently, tb_xdomain_remove() calls stop_handshake() which does cancel_delayed_work_sync() on both delayed works. Later, tb_xdomain_unregister() calls device_unregister() which eventually frees the xdomain. Since commit 559c1e1e0134 ("thunderbolt: Run tb_xdp_handle_request() in system workqueue") moved the request handler off tb->wq, the handler and the remove path are no longer serialized. If queue_delayed_work() executes after cancel_delayed_work_sync() but before the xdomain is freed, the delayed work fires on a freed object.
Add xd->removing that tb_xdomain_remove() sets under xd->lock before calling stop_handshake(). Each external queue site holds the same lock and checks removing before calling queue_delayed_work(). This provides the mutual exclusion needed: either the queue site acquires the lock first and queues work that the subsequent cancel will see, or the remove path acquires the lock first and the queue site observes removing == true and skips the queue.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-74575?
How do I fix CVE-2026-74575?
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-2026-74575 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-74575 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-74575, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-74575, GHSA-87c7-v43r-f3f4, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-74575.