CVE-2026-98813: Linux: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Hold map BTF for the memory allocator…

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

bpf: Hold map BTF for the memory allocator destructor record

bpf_ma_set_dtor() duplicates map->record so that the bpf_mem_alloc destructor can release the special fields of hash and rhash map elements once the allocator frees them for good. btf_record_dup() only acquires references on kernel and module BTF. Fields whose types live in the map BTF keep pointing into it: a kptr to a local type refers to map->btf, and a list_head or rb_root field carries a value_rec owned by the struct meta table of map->btf.

That borrowed state can outlive the map. When RCU callbacks are still in flight, bpf_mem_alloc_destroy() copies the allocator and defers the final drain, together with the destructor context, to a workqueue. bpf_map_free() then frees map->record and drops the map's BTF reference as soon as map_free() returns. Once the program that loaded the BTF is gone as well, the BTF is freed while the worker still uses the duplicate. The worker dereferences it through btf_is_kernel() and btf_find_struct_meta() in bpf_obj_free_fields() when destroying elements that were freed under RCU, and through btf_is_kernel() in btf_record_free() when releasing the context itself:

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in btf_is_kernel+0x19/0x30 Read of size 1 at addr ffff88811505dce8 by task kworker/u16:2/50 Workqueue: events_unbound free_mem_alloc_deferred Call Trace: btf_is_kernel+0x19/0x30 btf_record_free+0xc7/0xf0 htab_dtor_ctx_free+0x1a/0x30 free_mem_alloc_no_barrier+0x39/0x230 free_mem_alloc_deferred+0x2a/0x40 process_scheduled_works+0x5ce/0x9d0 worker_thread+0x42a/0x5e0 kthread+0x1f5/0x230 ret_from_fork+0x1dd/0x390 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30

Allocated by task 358: __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x287/0x510 btf_new_fd+0xf7/0x3d0 __sys_bpf+0x487/0x840

Freed by task 0: kfree+0x186/0x560 rcu_core+0x6f6/0xd40

Freeing a map that still holds more elements than the allocator's high watermark is enough to get there, because the bulk free during teardown queues the RCU callback that makes bpf_mem_alloc_destroy() defer. Non-preallocated hash maps and resizable hash maps both register the destructor and are affected alike.

Keep one reference on the map BTF in the destructor context. Every non-kernel pointer in the duplicated record is either map->btf or memory owned by it, so a single reference covers kptrs, list heads, and rb roots, and mirrors what bpf_map_meta_alloc() does for the duplicated record of an inner map. Release it only after the duplicated record has been freed: the worker is preemptible and not in an RCU read-side critical section, so dropping the last reference first would let the BTF be freed while btf_record_free() still reads its fields.