CVE-2026-93250 vxlan: mdb: Fix use-after-free in vxlan_mdb_flush()
A use-after-free in the Linux kernel VXLAN module allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges via crafted netlink messages.
- 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-2026-93250?
CVE-2026-93250 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 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:
vxlan: mdb: Fix use-after-free in vxlan_mdb_flush()
vxlan_mdb_flush() iterates over the MDB entries using hlist_for_each_entry_safe(), which only tolerates the removal of the current entry. Contrary to the comment above the loop, the removal of an entry can trigger the removal of another entry.
Flushing the remotes of a (*, G) entry also removes the (S, G) entries that were created for its source list, once they are left without remotes:
vxlan_mdb_remotes_flush() -> vxlan_mdb_remote_del() -> vxlan_mdb_remote_srcs_del() -> vxlan_mdb_remote_src_del() -> vxlan_mdb_remote_src_fwd_del() -> __vxlan_mdb_del() -> vxlan_mdb_entry_put()
Such an entry can be located after the (*, G) entry in the list, as vxlan_mdb_entry_get() returns an existing entry without moving it to the head of the list. This order is obtained by adding the (S, G) entry before the (*, G) entry, the latter with NLM_F_REPLACE, as the addition of the source otherwise fails with -EEXIST. The (S, G) entry is then the entry saved by hlist_for_each_entry_safe() and it is freed while the (*, G) entry is processed. The next iteration calls hlist_del() on it again, writing LIST_POISON1 to LIST_POISON2 [1].
Besides device deletion, the flush is also reachable from RTM_DELMDB with NLM_F_BULK.
Fix by re-reading the next entry after the remotes were flushed. The current entry cannot be removed by this flush, as source lists can only be configured on (*, G) entries and the removed entries are (S, G) entries. It is therefore still linked and its next pointer reflects the removals.
[1] BUG: KASAN: wild-memory-access in vxlan_mdb_entry_put.part.0+0x328/0x588 Write of size 8 at addr dead000000000122 by task ip/327
CPU: 3 UID: 1000 PID: 327 Comm: ip Not tainted 7.2.0-rc7 #2 PREEMPT Call trace: vxlan_mdb_entry_put.part.0+0x328/0x588 vxlan_mdb_flush+0x1d8/0x25c vxlan_mdb_fini+0x8c/0x100 vxlan_uninit+0x1c/0x7c unregister_netdevice_many_notify+0x954/0xd4c rtnl_dellink+0x210/0x530 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x434/0x4d0 netlink_rcv_skb+0xc4/0x204 rtnetlink_rcv+0x18/0x24 netlink_unicast+0x4b8/0x548 netlink_sendmsg+0x29c/0x560 ____sys_sendmsg+0x390/0x3ec ___sys_sendmsg+0x114/0x188 __sys_sendmsg+0xf0/0x178 __arm64_sys_sendmsg+0x48/0x60 invoke_syscall.constprop.0+0x58/0x180 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x74/0x140 do_el0_svc+0x30/0x40 el0_svc+0x38/0x98 el0t_64_sync_handler+0xa0/0xe4 el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x19c
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-93250?
How do I fix CVE-2026-93250?
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-2026-93250 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-93250 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-93250, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-93250, GHSA-xj6p-hw9r-5g4r, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-93250.