# CVE-2026-74613: vsock/virtio: avoid refilling the RX queue after teardown

> A use-after-free in the Linux kernel vsock driver allows a local attacker to cause a kernel panic and denial of service during device teardown.

- **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:** 22 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 16 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-97253, BELL-CVE-2026-74613, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-74613, GHSA-3935-6jc6-r9rc, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-74613

## What is CVE-2026-74613?

CVE-2026-74613 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 22 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:

vsock/virtio: avoid refilling the RX queue after teardown

Commit b917507e5ad9 ("vsock/virtio: stop workers during the .remove()")
made the RX worker jump to its common exit when rx_run is clear.  That
exit still refills the RX queue when the buffer count is low, so work
queued across virtio_vsock_vqs_del() can add buffers after the virtqueues
have been deleted.

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in virtqueue_add_sgs
Read of size 4 by task kworker/0:1
Workqueue: virtio_vsock virtio_transport_rx_work
Call Trace:
 virtqueue_add_sgs (drivers/virtio/virtio_ring.c:2796)
 virtio_vsock_rx_fill (net/vmw_vsock/virtio_transport.c:332)
 virtio_transport_rx_work (net/vmw_vsock/virtio_transport.c:701)
 process_one_work (kernel/workqueue.c:3314)
 worker_thread (kernel/workqueue.c:3478)
 kthread (kernel/kthread.c:436)
 ret_from_fork (arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158)
 ret_from_fork_asm (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245)
...
Freed by task 141:
 kfree (mm/slub.c:6566)
 vp_del_vq (drivers/virtio/virtio_pci_common.c:259)
 vp_del_vqs (drivers/virtio/virtio_pci_common.c:285)
 virtio_vsock_freeze (net/vmw_vsock/virtio_transport.c:912)
 virtio_device_freeze (drivers/virtio/virtio.c:658)
 virtio_pci_freeze (drivers/virtio/virtio_pci_common.c:601)
 pci_pm_freeze (drivers/pci/pci-driver.c:1098)
 device_suspend (drivers/base/power/main.c:1968)
Kernel panic - not syncing: KASAN: panic_on_warn set ...

Jump to a no-refill exit when rx_run is clear, leaving the normal exit
to replenish a running queue.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-74613?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-74613?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-74613 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-74613 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-74613 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-74613 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 22 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-2026-74613 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-2026-74613/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74613/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74613
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74613
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-74613

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74613/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.