CVE-2026-90003 futex: Prevent rcuwait use-after-free during requeue PI
A race condition in the Linux kernel futex subsystem allows a use-after-free, potentially enabling local attackers to execute code or escalate privileges.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-90003?
CVE-2026-90003 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 16 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:
futex: Prevent rcuwait use-after-free during requeue PI
On PREEMPT_RT, FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE_PI can trigger a KASAN report (slab-out-of-bounds) in futex_requeue_pi_complete() invocation of rcuwait_wake_up().
The futex_q used by futex_wait_requeue_pi() is allocated on the waiter's stack. An early wakeup can race with a PI requeue as follows:
waiter requeue task ------ ------------ futex_wait_requeue_pi() futex_do_wait() schedule() futex_requeue futex_proxy_trylock_atomic() futex_requeue_pi_prepare() Q_REQUEUE_PI_NONE -> Q_REQUEUE_PI_IN_PROGRESS * timeout/ signal wakes waiter * futex_requeue_pi_wakeup_sync() Q_REQUEUE_PI_IN_PROGRESS -> Q_REQUEUE_PI_WAIT requeue_pi_wake_futex futex_requeue_pi_complete() cmpxchg Q_REQUEUE_PI_WAIT -> Q_REQUEUE_PI_LOCKED rcuwait_wait_event() if (atomic_read(&q->requeue_state) != Q_REQUEUE_PI_WAIT) break /* no schedule() */
/* q.pi_state->owner == current */ futex_private_hash_put() /* return from syscall */ rcuwait_wake_up(&q->requeue_wait) /* q is gone */
futex_requeue_pi_complete() publishes Q_REQUEUE_PI_LOCKED before calling rcuwait_wake_up(). The waiter observes this state in rcuwait_wait_event() before invoking schedule() in rcuwait_wait_event(). Here, the waiter is free leave the syscall before requeue task can complete the wake.
To address this race skip rcuwait_wake_up() in the Q_REQUEUE_PI_LOCKED case. This state is only published by requeue_pi_wake_futex(), which saves q->task before futex_requeue_pi_complete() and wakes the waiter via wake_up_state().
This wake is intended to wake the waiter from its futex_do_wait() sleep. If the waiter is still sleeping there, it can not get into the Q_REQUEUE_PI_WAIT state (and require this removed wake). Should the waiter be woken up from futex_do_wait() by other means (as in this example) and sleep in futex_requeue_pi_wakeup_sync() then the wake_up_state() from requeue_pi_wake_futex() will wake it, too. Should the waiter task terminate before wake_up_state() had a chance to wake the task then the task pointer does not become invalid because the futex_hash_bucket::lock is held and the task pointer is RCU protected.
[bigeasy: Updated comment and commit message]
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90003?
How do I fix CVE-2026-90003?
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-2026-90003 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90003 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-101435, BELL-CVE-2026-90003, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90003, GHSA-m59r-fcc7-pm78, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90003.