HIGH Introduced in 2.6.12
bluetooth IsoConn UAF
CVE-2026-80721
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
KernelScan AI7.5HIGH
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Bluetooth: ISO: ensure no dangling hcon references in iso_conn After iso_conn_del(), ISO sockets should not dereference the hcon any more. Currently, clearing iso_conn::hcon relies on iso_conn_del() releasing the last reference to the iso_conn. Simplify this by explicitly clearing conn->hcon in iso_conn_del(), to avoid more complex reasoning on races about who holds the last reference.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A race condition in the Linux Bluetooth ISO subsystem leaves a dangling pointer to an HCI connection object after teardown, allowing use-after-free when another thread dereferences it. An attacker within Bluetooth range can trigger this by initiating and tearing down ISO connections, potentially corrupting kernel heap memory for code execution or a system crash. Any device with Bluetooth enabled and reachable by nearby peers is affected.
Vulnerability analysis
A race condition in the Bluetooth ISO connection teardown path allows a connection object to retain a dangling pointer to its underlying HCI connection after that connection has been removed. The original code relied on reference counting to implicitly clear the pointer, so if another thread still held a reference to the ISO connection, the stale HCI connection pointer could be dereferenced, leading to use-after-free. The fix explicitly nullifies the pointer under the connection lock at the end of teardown and adds a guard that refuses to attach new channels to a connection whose HCI connection is already gone. This is reachable by an attacker within Bluetooth range who can trigger ISO connection setup and teardown, or by a local process with access to Bluetooth sockets; no special system privileges are required.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.11 | 6.11.11 | 6.12 | e941799c31f6 |
| 6.12 | 6.12.2 | 6.13 | cdce8af9291d |
| 6.18 | 2.6.12 | 6.18.44 | aa9f7cb2bd3a |
| 7.1 | 2.6.12 | 7.1.8 | — |
| mainline | 2.6.12 | 7.2 | — |
04CIP Kernels
State of the newest release of each Civil Infrastructure Platform SLTS tree, from CIP's own fix records.
| CIP tree | State |
|---|---|
| cip/6.12 | Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 6.12.112-cip33) |
| cip/6.1 | Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 6.1.189-cip61) |
| cip/6.1-rt | Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 6.1.189-cip61-rt32) |
| cip/5.10 | Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 5.10.271-cip78) |
| cip/5.10-rt | Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 5.10.268-cip77-rt34) |
| cip/4.19 | Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 4.19.325-cip136) |
| cip/4.19-rt | Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 4.19.325-cip136-rt50) |
| cip/4.4 | Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 4.4.302-cip115) |
| cip/4.4-rt | Affected — no CIP fix yet (latest 4.4.302-cip115-rt63) |