HIGH Introduced in 4.15
thunderbolt XDomain UAF
CVE-2026-97509
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
KernelScan AI6.8MEDIUM
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: thunderbolt: Keep XDomain reference during the lifetime of a service This is needed because we release the service ID in tb_service_release() and the ID array is owned by the parent XDomain.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A use-after-free in the Thunderbolt driver's XDomain service handling can be triggered by connecting and disconnecting a Thunderbolt device. An attacker with physical access to a Thunderbolt or USB4 port could exploit this to corrupt kernel memory, potentially achieving code execution or causing a kernel panic. Systems without exposed Thunderbolt ports are not affected.
Vulnerability analysis
When a Thunderbolt XDomain service is created, the code associates it with its parent XDomain device without holding a reference on that parent. Later, when the service is destroyed, its cleanup routine accesses the parent XDomain's internal ID allocation data to release the service's ID. If the XDomain has already been torn down—for instance when a Thunderbolt device is disconnected—the cleanup code operates on freed memory. The fix takes a reference on the XDomain device when the service is created and releases it only when the service is fully destroyed, guaranteeing the parent remains valid throughout the service's lifetime. This path is reached through physical access to a Thunderbolt or USB4 port; no software privileges are required, only the ability to connect and disconnect a Thunderbolt device.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.10 | 4.15 | 5.10.266 | a4567e5380e4 |
| 5.15 | 4.15 | 5.15.217 | daeaa6c7211d |
| 6.1 | 4.15 | 6.1.189 | cca72fe513f3 |
| 6.6 | 4.15 | 6.6.158 | 57359bb31526 |
| 6.12 | 4.15 | 6.12.111 | 8ab12d015884 |
| 6.18 | 4.15 | 6.18.53 | ea60ae6233ca |
| mainline | 4.15 | 7.2 | 8b4060998637 |
| cip/4.19 | 4.15 | 4.19.325-cip136 | 11615a3df6e0 |
| cip/4.19-rt | 4.15 | 4.19.325-cip136-rt50 | 11615a3df6e0 |
| cip/5.10 | 4.15 | 5.10.268-cip77 | a4567e5380e4 |
| cip/5.10-rt | 4.15 | 5.10.268-cip77-rt34 | a4567e5380e4 |
| cip/6.12 | 4.15 | 6.12.111-cip32 | 8ab12d015884 |