In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
bpf, sockmap: Fix skb refcnt race after locking changes
There is a race where skb's from the sk_psock_backlog can be referenced after userspace side has already skb_consumed() the sk_buff and its refcnt dropped to zer0 causing use after free.
The flow is the following:
while ((skb = skb_peek(&psock->ingress_skb)) sk_psock_handle_Skb(psock, skb, ..., ingress) if (!ingress) ... sk_psock_skb_ingress sk_psock_skb_ingress_enqueue(skb) msg->skb = skb sk_psock_queue_msg(psock, msg) skb_dequeue(&psock->ingress_skb)
The sk_psock_queue_msg() puts the msg on the ingress_msg queue. This is what the application reads when recvmsg() is called. An application can read this anytime after the msg is placed on the queue. The recvmsg hook will also read msg->skb and then after user space reads the msg will call consume_skb(skb) on it effectively free'ing it.
But, the race is in above where backlog queue still has a reference to the skb and calls skb_dequeue(). If the skb_dequeue happens after the user reads and free's the skb we have a use after free.
The !ingress case does not suffer from this problem because it uses sendmsg_*(sk, msg) which does not pass the sk_buff further down the stack.
The following splat was observed with 'test_progs -t sockmap_listen':
[ 1022.710250][ T2556] general protection fault, ... [...] [ 1022.712830][ T2556] Workqueue: events sk_psock_backlog [ 1022.713262][ T2556] RIP: 0010:skb_dequeue+0x4c/0x80 [ 1022.713653][ T2556] Code: ... [...] [ 1022.720699][ T2556] Call Trace: [ 1022.720984][ T2556] <TASK> [ 1022.721254][ T2556] ? die_addr+0x32/0x80^M [ 1022.721589][ T2556] ? exc_general_protection+0x25a/0x4b0 [ 1022.722026][ T2556] ? asm_exc_general_protection+0x22/0x30 [ 1022.722489][ T2556] ? skb_dequeue+0x4c/0x80 [ 1022.722854][ T2556] sk_psock_backlog+0x27a/0x300 [ 1022.723243][ T2556] process_one_work+0x2a7/0x5b0 [ 1022.723633][ T2556] worker_thread+0x4f/0x3a0 [ 1022.723998][ T2556] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [ 1022.724386][ T2556] kthread+0xfd/0x130 [ 1022.724709][ T2556] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 1022.725066][ T2556] ret_from_fork+0x2d/0x50 [ 1022.725409][ T2556] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 1022.725799][ T2556] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1b/0x30 [ 1022.726201][ T2556] </TASK>
To fix we add an skb_get() before passing the skb to be enqueued in the engress queue. This bumps the skb->users refcnt so that consume_skb() and kfree_skb will not immediately free the sk_buff. With this we can be sure the skb is still around when we do the dequeue. Then we just need to decrement the refcnt or free the skb in the backlog case which we do by calling kfree_skb() on the ingress case as well as the sendmsg case.
Before locking change from fixes tag we had the sock locked so we couldn't race with user and there was no issue here.
| Product | Vendor Advisory | Solution File | Added | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux Ami 2 | — | Upgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade kernel-livepatch-5.15.189-131.206Upgrade bpftoolUpgrade perfUpgrade python-perfUpgrade bpftool-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64Upgrade kernel-tools-debuginfoUpgrade python-perf-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64Upgrade kernelUpgrade kernel-develUpgrade perf-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-tools-develUpgrade kernel-headers | May 20, 2026 | May 20, 2026 |
| Amazon_linux_2023 | — | Upgrade kernelUpgrade kernel-tools-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-headersUpgrade kernel-libbpf-staticUpgrade perfUpgrade kernel-tools-develUpgrade kernel-develUpgrade kernel-libbpfUpgrade kernel-livepatch-6.1.55-75.123Upgrade python3-perfUpgrade kernel-libbpf-develUpgrade python3-perf-debuginfoUpgrade perf-debuginfoUpgrade bpftool-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade bpftoolUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64Upgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 | Jan 12, 2026 | Dec 9, 2025 |
| Debian | — | Upgrade linux | Dec 10, 2025 | Dec 10, 2025 |
| Redhat_linux | — | No solution exists | Jul 17, 2026 | Dec 9, 2025 |
| Ubuntu | — | Upgrade linux-nvidiaUpgrade linux-kvmUpgrade linux-azure-fipsUpgrade linux-gcp-5.15Upgrade linux-gcpUpgrade linux-aws-fipsUpgrade linux-fipsUpgrade linux-intel-iotgUpgrade linux-nvidia-tegra-igxUpgrade linux-xilinx-zynqmpUpgrade linux-intel-iot-realtimeUpgrade linux-gkeopUpgrade linux-oracleUpgrade linux-intel-iotg-5.15Upgrade linux-azure-5.15Upgrade linux-lowlatencyUpgrade linux-oracle-5.15Upgrade linux-hwe-5.15Upgrade linux-ibmUpgrade linux-azureUpgrade linux-gcp-fipsUpgrade linux-riscv-5.15Upgrade linux-azure-fdeUpgrade linuxUpgrade linux-ibm-5.15Upgrade linux-bluefieldUpgrade linux-realtimeUpgrade linux-awsUpgrade linux-raspiUpgrade linux-aws-5.15Upgrade linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15Upgrade linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15Upgrade linux-nvidia-tegraUpgrade linux-gke | Dec 11, 2025 | Dec 9, 2025 |
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