CVE-2026-72322: ipv6: mcast: Fix potential UAF in MLD delayed work
- Is it exploited?
Not on CISA's list. CISA has not added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as of . If CISA adds it, this page shows it as known exploited.
- How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?
- 0.7%
EPSS score, percentile 54 of all scored records. A probability estimated by FIRST, not a report of exploitation.
- How severe?
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS v3.1 base score, given by the CNA
- What should I do?
CISA has set no required action, because the vulnerability is not in KEV.
The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.
- Which versions are affected?
Affected
- 2.6.12
Unaffected before 2.6.12; 5.10.261; 5.15.212; 6.1.178; 6.6.145; 6.12.97; and 3 more
Source: CISA KEV 2026.10.28, as of ; FIRST EPSS, as of ; CVE List, as of . About the data.
What to do
Advisories and patches
The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.
This summary is based on the CVE record as of . Check the vendor's advisory before you act: affected versions and fixes can change.
Affected products and versions
As listed in the CVE record.
| Status | Versions |
|---|---|
| Affected | from 1da177e4c3f4 to before f12b63ef26a0 |
| Affected | from 1da177e4c3f4 to before 0401d6cf7877 |
| Affected | from 1da177e4c3f4 to before f03b0a45535d |
| Affected | from 1da177e4c3f4 to before 9815e834f5ff |
| Affected | from 1da177e4c3f4 to before ebbebf6cee95 |
| Affected | from 1da177e4c3f4 to before 9ce741c22df4 |
| Affected | from 1da177e4c3f4 to before 0458ba1cda83 |
| Affected | from 1da177e4c3f4 to before 9b26518b6896 |
Versions not listed are: unaffected.
| Status | Versions |
|---|---|
| Affected | 2.6.12 |
| Unaffected | before 2.6.12 |
| Unaffected | 5.10.261 |
| Unaffected | 5.15.212 |
| Unaffected | 6.1.178 |
| Unaffected | 6.6.145 |
| Unaffected | 6.12.97 |
| Unaffected | 6.18.40 |
| Unaffected | 7.1.5 |
| Unaffected | 7.2 |
Versions not listed are: affected.
Versions the record lists as unaffected: 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2.
Source: CVE List, as of . About the data.
About this vulnerability
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: mcast: Fix potential UAF in MLD delayed work A race condition exists between device teardown and incoming MLD query processing, leading to a Use-After-Free in the MLD delayed work. During device destruction, the primary reference to inet6_dev is dropped, which can drop its refcount to 0. The actual freeing of inet6_dev m…
Summary: CVE record, as of .
- CISA has not added CVE-2026-72322 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, as of 28 Oct 2026.
- The CVE record was published on 15 Aug 2026.
- The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (Critical), given by its CNA.
- FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.7% (percentile 54), as of 29 Oct 2026. EPSS is a statistical estimate, not a report of exploitation.
- CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation none, automatable yes, technical impact total.
Source: CISA KEV 2026.10.28, as of ; CVE List, as of ; FIRST EPSS, as of . About the data.
Description
ipv6: mcast: Fix potential UAF in MLD delayed work
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: mcast: Fix potential UAF in MLD delayed work A race condition exists between device teardown and incoming MLD query processing, leading to a Use-After-Free in the MLD delayed work. During device destruction, the primary reference to inet6_dev is dropped, which can drop its refcount to 0. The actual freeing of inet6_dev memory is deferred via RCU. Concurrently, the packet receive path runs under RCU read lock and obtains the inet6_dev pointer. Because the memory is RCU-protected, CPU-0 can safely dereference inet6_dev even if its refcount has hit 0. However, if CPU-0 calls igmp6_event_query() and schedules delayed work, it attempts to acquire a reference using in6_dev_hold(). This increments the refcount from 0 to 1, triggering a "refcount_t: addition on 0" warning. Since the inet6_dev memory is still scheduled to be freed after the RCU grace period, the device is freed while the work is still scheduled. When the work runs, it accesses the freed memory, causing a kernel panic. Fix this by using refcount_inc_not_zero() (via a new helper in6_dev_hold_safe()) to prevent acquiring a reference if the device is already being destroyed. If the refcount is 0, we do not schedule the work.
Source: CVE List, as of . About the data.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| CVE record published | |
| CVE record last updated |
References
8
Known exploited Linux vulnerabilities
- CVE-2026-46300: Linux Kernel Missing Initialization of a Variable Vulnerability
- CVE-2025-39682: Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions Vulnerability
- CVE-2025-39964: Linux Kernel Race Condition Vulnerability
- CVE-2026-53266: Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Vulnerability
- CVE-2026-53362: Linux Kernel Unspecified Vulnerability