CVE-2026-80932 vsock/virtio: flush works in dependency order
A race condition in the Linux kernel vsock driver allows a use-after-free, potentially leading to code execution or system crashes.
- 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-2026-80932?
CVE-2026-80932 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 11 Sep 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: flush works in dependency order
virtio_vsock_remove() stops the virtqueues and then flushes each work item before freeing the enclosing virtio_vsock. The current order does not account for dependencies between those items: tx_work may queue send_pkt_work, and send_pkt_work may queue rx_work.
In particular, send_pkt_work can set restart_rx and release tx_lock. The remove path can then stop the queues and flush rx_work before send_pkt_work queues it. Although the later send_pkt_work flush waits for that producer to finish, nothing waits for the newly queued rx_work, so kfree(vsock) can race with it.
KASAN reported:
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in virtio_transport_rx_work+0x487/0x4b0 Read of size 8 at addr ffff888114c2b008 by task kworker/1:1/47 Workqueue: virtio_vsock virtio_transport_rx_work Call Trace: virtio_transport_rx_work+0x487/0x4b0 process_one_work+0x688/0x1120 worker_thread+0x45b/0xd10 Allocated by task 1: virtio_vsock_probe+0xef/0x6b0 Freed by task 84: kfree+0x131/0x3c0 virtio_vsock_remove+0xd1/0x100
Flush the works in producer-to-consumer order. virtio_vsock_vqs_del() has already disabled the queue callbacks and cleared the run flags, so after tx_work and send_pkt_work are drained, no source remains that can queue rx_work after its flush.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-80932?
How do I fix CVE-2026-80932?
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-2026-80932 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-80932 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-100383, BELL-CVE-2026-80932, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-80932, GHSA-c7hj-cc73-472r, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-80932.