KernelScan.io

HIGH Introduced in 2.6.24

bonding PromiscMode Race

CVE-2026-74726

CVSS 7.3 / 10.0 NVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:H

KernelScan AI5.3MEDIUM

01

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bonding: alb: re-check primary_is_promisc under RTNL in bond_alb_monitor bond_alb_monitor() reads primary_is_promisc under RCU, then drops RCU and takes RTNL via rtnl_trylock() before undoing the promiscuity it set on the active slave. In that window the active slave can change under RTNL (RTM_DELLINK -> __bond_release_one() -> bond_alb_handle_active_change()), which already drops the promiscuity and clears primary_is_promisc. The monitor still acts on the stale decision: if the slave was removed with no failover, curr_active_slave is now NULL and the deref faults; if it failed over, the stale dev_set_promiscuity(-1) underflows the new slave's promiscuity counter and pins it in IFF_PROMISC. Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address ... KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000000007] Workqueue: b42 bond_alb_monitor RIP: 0010:bond_alb_monitor (drivers/net/bonding/bond_alb.c:1600) process_one_work (kernel/workqueue.c:3322) worker_thread (kernel/workqueue.c:3486) kthread (kernel/kthread.c:436) ret_from_fork (arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158) Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception Re-check primary_is_promisc (and curr_active_slave) after taking RTNL so the monitor only undoes an increment it still owns. The other bonding monitors already re-read state under RTNL in their commit phase (bond_miimon_commit/bond_ab_arp_commit); bond_alb_monitor() was the only one acting on the pre-trylock decision.

02

Engine v0.6.0

Risk summary

A local attacker who can manipulate bonding slave state (via netlink RTM_DELLINK) can race the ALB monitor's promiscuity cleanup, causing either a kernel panic from a NULL pointer dereference or a promiscuity-counter underflow that permanently traps an interface in promiscuous mode. The race requires CAP_NET_ADMIN, which is obtainable inside an unprivileged user or network namespace on most distributions, making it reachable by non-root users in containerized or multi-tenant environments.

Affecteddrivers/net/bonding/bond_alb.c (bonding ALB monitor)

Vulnerability analysis

The bonding driver's load-balancing monitor checks whether to clear promiscuous mode on the active slave, then drops its read-side protection and waits to acquire the management lock before applying the change. In that window, another thread can remove the active slave or trigger a failover under the same management lock, which already clears promiscuous mode and resets the flag. The monitor then acts on stale information: if the slave was removed without failover, it follows a NULL pointer and panics the kernel; if a failover occurred, it incorrectly decrements the new slave's promiscuity counter, underflowing it and permanently trapping that interface in promiscuous mode. The fix re-checks the flag and active-slave pointer after acquiring the lock, so the monitor only undoes a change it still owns. The vulnerability is reachable locally by any user who can manipulate bonding slave state via netlink, which requires CAP_NET_ADMIN — obtainable inside an unprivileged user or network namespace on most distributions.

03

BranchIntroducedFixed inPatch commit
5.152.6.245.15.21609add8d5cfa9
5.102.6.245.10.265f7668762bf5f
6.12.6.246.1.183b82f51681a7a
6.182.6.246.18.452faf75a8a065
7.12.6.247.1.9257c4a3a34d8
mainline2.6.247.2683c6ba6e58e
6.62.6.246.6.152dd148539fb47
6.122.6.246.12.104dccec0227ed8
cip/4.192.6.244.19.325-cip1365677ee6c14da
cip/4.19-rt2.6.244.19.325-cip136-rt505677ee6c14da
cip/4.42.6.244.4.302-cip1157c38a3b3ad5b
cip/4.4-rt2.6.244.4.302-cip115-rt637c38a3b3ad5b
cip/5.102.6.245.10.268-cip77f7668762bf5f
cip/5.10-rt2.6.245.10.268-cip77-rt34f7668762bf5f
cip/6.12.6.246.1.187-cip60b82f51681a7a
cip/6.122.6.246.12.104-cip30dccec0227ed8