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

mptcp: fix slab-use-after-free in __inet_lookup_established

The ehash table lookups are lockless and rely on
SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU to guarantee socket memory stability
during RCU read-side critical sections. Both tcp_prot and
tcpv6_prot have their slab caches created with this flag
via proto_register().

However, MPTCP's mptcp_subflow_init() copies tcpv6_prot into
tcpv6_prot_override during inet_init() (fs_initcall, level 5),
before inet6_init() (module_init/device_initcall, level 6) has
called proto_register(&tcpv6_prot). At that point,
tcpv6_prot.slab is still NULL, so tcpv6_prot_override.slab
remains NULL permanently.

This causes MPTCP v6 subflow child sockets to be allocated via
kmalloc (falling into kmalloc-4k) instead of the TCPv6 slab
cache. The kmalloc-4k cache lacks SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU, so
when these sockets are freed without SOCK_RCU_FREE (which is
cleared for child sockets by design), the memory can be
immediately reused. Concurrent ehash lookups under
rcu_read_lock can then access freed memory, triggering a
slab-use-after-free in __inet_lookup_established.

Fix this by splitting the IPv6-specific initialization out of
mptcp_subflow_init() into a new mptcp_subflow_v6_init(), called
from mptcp_proto_v6_init() before protocol registration. This
ensures tcpv6_prot_override.slab correctly inherits the
SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU slab cache.

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4561-1 linux-6.1 security update
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-6238-1 linux security update
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-6243-1 linux security update
Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 20:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-416
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.12:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:*

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}


Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-763
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Important


Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mptcp: fix slab-use-after-free in __inet_lookup_established The ehash table lookups are lockless and rely on SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU to guarantee socket memory stability during RCU read-side critical sections. Both tcp_prot and tcpv6_prot have their slab caches created with this flag via proto_register(). However, MPTCP's mptcp_subflow_init() copies tcpv6_prot into tcpv6_prot_override during inet_init() (fs_initcall, level 5), before inet6_init() (module_init/device_initcall, level 6) has called proto_register(&tcpv6_prot). At that point, tcpv6_prot.slab is still NULL, so tcpv6_prot_override.slab remains NULL permanently. This causes MPTCP v6 subflow child sockets to be allocated via kmalloc (falling into kmalloc-4k) instead of the TCPv6 slab cache. The kmalloc-4k cache lacks SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU, so when these sockets are freed without SOCK_RCU_FREE (which is cleared for child sockets by design), the memory can be immediately reused. Concurrent ehash lookups under rcu_read_lock can then access freed memory, triggering a slab-use-after-free in __inet_lookup_established. Fix this by splitting the IPv6-specific initialization out of mptcp_subflow_init() into a new mptcp_subflow_v6_init(), called from mptcp_proto_v6_init() before protocol registration. This ensures tcpv6_prot_override.slab correctly inherits the SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU slab cache.
Title mptcp: fix slab-use-after-free in __inet_lookup_established
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-05-11T22:13:21.124Z

Reserved: 2026-03-09T15:48:24.130Z

Link: CVE-2026-31669

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2026-04-24T15:16:46.663

Modified: 2026-04-27T20:09:25.553

Link: CVE-2026-31669

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Important

Publid Date: 2026-04-24T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-31669 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-04-28T13:45:06Z

Weaknesses