# CVE-2026-74615: vxlan: do not arm the ageing timer on a device that is down

> An unprivileged user can trigger a use-after-free in the Linux kernel VXLAN driver by arming a timer on a downed device, leading to system crashes or potential code execution.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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-97356, BELL-CVE-2026-74615, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-74615, GHSA-m2v3-p29r-xwmj, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-74615

## What is CVE-2026-74615?

CVE-2026-74615 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:

vxlan: do not arm the ageing timer on a device that is down

vxlan_changelink() arms vxlan->age_timer whenever the requested ageing
interval differs from the configured one:

	if (conf.age_interval != vxlan->cfg.age_interval)
		mod_timer(&vxlan->age_timer, jiffies);

There is no netif_running() test, so the timer is armed even on a device
that was never brought up.  The only synchronous cancel in the driver is
the timer_delete_sync() in vxlan_stop(), which is .ndo_stop.
netif_close_many() drops devices without IFF_UP before
__dev_close_many() runs, so that cancel is skipped for such a device.

vxlan_setup() sets dev->needs_free_netdev = true and age_timer is a
member of struct vxlan_dev, so free_netdev() releases the allocation the
timer lives in while it is still queued on a timer_base.
expire_timers() unlinks the entry before it loads timer->function, so
the timer core writes through the freed object's list pointers:

  BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __run_timers+0x208/0x654
  Write of size 8 at addr ffff00001adace68 by task true/192
   __asan_store8+0x84/0xac
   __run_timers+0x208/0x654
   run_timer_softirq+0x154/0x18c
  Allocated by task 189:
   alloc_netdev_mqs+0x64/0x720
   rtnl_create_link+0x4ac/0x520
   rtnl_newlink+0x758/0xd00
  Freed by task 191:
   netdev_release+0x40/0x58
   netdev_run_todo+0x4a4/0x8c0
   rtnl_dellink+0x200/0x4e8

The rtnl operations involved are netns-scoped, so an unprivileged user
can perform them in a new user and network namespace.

Arming the timer on a down device never had an effect: vxlan_cleanup()
returns early on !netif_running(), and vxlan_open() arms the timer for
any non-zero interval once the device is brought up.  Add the missing
test.

Discovered by XBOW, triaged by Baul Lee <baul.lee@xbow.com>

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-74615?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-74615?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-74615 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-74615 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-74615 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-74615 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-2026-74615 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-2026-74615/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74615/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74615
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74615
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-74615

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74615/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.