HIGH Introduced in 6.13
bluetooth ScoConn UAF
CVE-2026-80683
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
KernelScan AI7.1HIGH
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Bluetooth: SCO: give the socket its own sco_conn reference sco_conn_del() drops a reference it does not own. It takes one transient reference via sco_conn_hold_unless_zero() and releases it with the sco_conn_put() that follows sco_sock_hold(); the additional put in the !sk branch releases a second one: conn = sco_conn_hold_unless_zero(conn); ... sk = sco_sock_hold(conn); sco_conn_unlock(conn); sco_conn_put(conn); if (!sk) { sco_conn_put(conn); return; } When close() races the controller's Disconnection Complete, sco_chan_del() clears conn->sk and drops the socket's reference while sco_conn_del() is running. sco_conn_del() then sees sk == NULL, its own put drops the count to zero and frees the conn, and the second put writes to the freed kref: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in sco_conn_put.part.0+0x1a/0x190 Write of size 4 at addr ffff8881099dec74 by task kworker/u17:3/413 Workqueue: hci1 hci_rx_work Call Trace: sco_conn_put.part.0+0x1a/0x190 hci_disconn_complete_evt+0x1ee/0x3e0 hci_event_packet+0x54a/0x650 hci_rx_work+0x321/0x3d0 Allocated by task 413: sco_conn_add+0x72/0x1a0 sco_connect_cfm+0x88/0x670 Freed by task 413: sco_conn_del.isra.0+0x3f/0xf0 hci_disconn_complete_evt+0x1ee/0x3e0 refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free. The root cause is that the socket stores the connection without holding a reference of its own. __sco_chan_add() does: sco_pi(sk)->conn = conn; so the socket borrows whatever reference its caller happened to hold, and the callers paper over that with ad-hoc holds and puts. Give the socket a counted reference instead: __sco_chan_add() takes one and it is released together with the channel (sco_chan_del()) and in sco_sock_destruct(). With the socket holding its own reference, sco_conn_del() no longer needs the extra put and the redundant hold in sco_conn_ready() goes away. Making the socket own its reference means the connection is now actually freed on the error paths of sco_connect() where it used to leak, which in turn runs sco_conn_free() and its hci_conn_drop(conn->hcon). To keep the hci_conn accounting balanced, make that ownership explicit as well: sco_conn_add() consumes one hci_conn reference and the sco_conn owns it for its lifetime. sco_connect() hands over the reference returned by hci_connect_sco() and no longer drops it on the error paths; sco_connect_cfm(), which is not given a reference, takes one with hci_conn_hold() before handing it to sco_conn_add() (and drops it again if the allocation fails); and the explicit hci_conn_hold() in sco_conn_ready() is removed. Every reference then has a single, clear owner.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A local unprivileged user with access to Bluetooth SCO sockets can trigger a use-after-free by racing socket close() against a Bluetooth controller disconnection event. The resulting heap corruption can crash the kernel or potentially be exploited for privilege escalation. Any device with Bluetooth hardware enabled and local user access is at risk.
Vulnerability analysis
A race condition in the Bluetooth SCO connection teardown path causes a use-after-free when a local user closes a SCO socket at the same moment the Bluetooth controller reports a disconnection complete event. The socket borrows a connection reference without holding its own count, so when the disconnection handler frees the connection object, a redundant reference decrement in the close path writes to already-freed heap memory. The fix gives each socket its own counted reference to the connection object, acquired when the channel is added and released only when the channel is removed or the socket is destroyed, and removes the extra decrement that caused the use-after-free. The vulnerable path is reachable by any local user who can create Bluetooth SCO sockets, with the race triggered by a connected Bluetooth device disconnecting within radio range.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.18 | 6.13 | 6.18.44 | a33bc07b4730 |
| 7.1 | 6.13 | 7.1.8 | 8fe627192fa5 |
| mainline | 6.13 | 7.2 | abd93c85c866 |