KernelScan.io

HIGH Introduced in 3.16

openvswitch FlowMask UAF

CVE-2026-80994

CVSS 7.8 / 10.0 NVD

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

KernelScan AI7.8HIGH

01

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: openvswitch: fix flow mask use-after-free on flow deletion The commit in the Fixes tag below made so flow->mask free is scheduled via RCU right after it is removed from the flow table. The pointer stays in the flow structure and it can be accessible while in the same RCU critical section. This is done to avoid requiring ovs_mutex for the ovs_flow_free(). However, while removing the flow during processing of CMD_DEL, we do not take RCU read lock before the removal, and ovs_flow_cmd_fill_info() uses the flow->mask pointer afterwards. The RCU read lock is taken, but it's already late at that point. The comment on that line acknowledges that the lock is cosmetic and doesn't serve a real purpose. This leads to use-after-free if the RCU grace period passes between removal and the filling. It is a short race window, but it is there and can lead to a real crash in case memory allocation for the info takes a bit longer: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __ovs_nla_put_key net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c:1996 BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ovs_nla_put_key+0x2463/0x2e30 net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c:2250 Read of size 4 at addr ffff88801ee89970 by task ovs_flow_del_ec/9487 Call Trace: <TASK> __ovs_nla_put_key net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c:1996 ovs_nla_put_key+0x2463/0x2e30 net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c:2250 ovs_flow_cmd_fill_info+0x420/0x9c0 net/openvswitch/datapath.c:930 ovs_flow_cmd_del+0x53a/0x970 net/openvswitch/datapath.c:1467 ... netlink_rcv_skb+0x156/0x420 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2556 </TASK> Allocated by task 9487: mask_alloc net/openvswitch/flow_table.c:967 flow_mask_insert net/openvswitch/flow_table.c:1012 ovs_flow_tbl_insert+0xea2/0x1a90 net/openvswitch/flow_table.c:1084 ovs_flow_cmd_new+0x7e3/0xd90 net/openvswitch/datapath.c:1086 ... netlink_rcv_skb+0x156/0x420 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2556 Freed by task 9485: rcu_free_sheaf+0x1e/0x100 mm/slub.c:5978 rcu_do_batch kernel/rcu/tree.c:2645 rcu_core+0x59c/0x10c0 kernel/rcu/tree.c:2897 handle_softirqs+0x1e4/0x9a0 kernel/softirq.c:622 ... instr_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt arch/x86/kernel/apic/apic.c:1062 ovs_flow_tbl_remove() must be called after the ovs_flow_cmd_fill_info() to avoid this race. This also helps with cleaning up the forced cast and the cosmetic RCU read lock. Before the commit in the Fixes tag the order did not matter as long as the flow object itself was not freed. A wider RCU critical section could be another option, but we have a GFP_KERNEL allocation in the way. Reported by Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative as ZDI-CAN-32042.

02

Engine v0.6.0

Risk summary

A local attacker with CAP_NET_ADMIN (obtainable in a user namespace) can trigger a use-after-free in the Open vSwitch flow deletion path, potentially leading to kernel code execution and container escape. The vulnerability requires the openvswitch kernel module to be loaded and a race window to be won, but is reliably triggerable with timing manipulation. Products running untrusted workloads with OVS enabled are at highest risk.

Affectednet/openvswitch/datapath.c (openvswitch)

Vulnerability analysis

When an Open vSwitch flow is deleted via netlink, the flow's mask is scheduled for RCU-based freeing immediately upon removal from the flow table, but the code then builds a response message that dereferences the now-potentially-freed mask pointer. If the RCU grace period elapses during the response construction—made more likely by a memory allocation in that path—the mask is accessed after it has been freed, causing a use-after-free. The fix reorders the deletion sequence so that the response message is fully constructed before the flow is removed from the table, ensuring the mask remains valid throughout. The vulnerability is reachable from a local process holding CAP_NET_ADMIN, which an unprivileged user can acquire inside a user namespace, making it exploitable from within containers on systems where user namespaces are permitted.

03

BranchIntroducedFixed inPatch commit
6.123.166.12.1090ba5cbc2f049
5.153.165.15.22118ce1a8b7499
mainline3.167.3-rc14e30317ff67a
6.63.166.6.15764051fe200c7
7.23.167.2.47f072b84afd0
6.183.166.18.50ac73e3af571d
6.13.166.1.188c15ef9a5bf59
5.103.165.10.270ea5f7b45b582
cip/6.123.166.12.111-cip320ba5cbc2f049