CVE-2026-72473: xprtrdma: Decouple req recycling from RPC completion
- 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 53.9 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
- 5.3
Unaffected before 5.3; 6.1.178; 6.6.145; 6.12.97; 6.18.40; 7.1.5; and 1 more
Source: CISA KEV 2026.10.29, 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 0ab115237025 to before 740975054a19 |
| Affected | from 0ab115237025 to before 9f3d9b68c1c6 |
| Affected | from 0ab115237025 to before e7632089523a |
| Affected | from 0ab115237025 to before 53442c7d0c88 |
| Affected | from 0ab115237025 to before 8203f760a72b |
| Affected | from 0ab115237025 to before e786233d2e0b |
Versions not listed are: unaffected.
| Status | Versions |
|---|---|
| Affected | 5.3 |
| Unaffected | before 5.3 |
| 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: 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: xprtrdma: Decouple req recycling from RPC completion rl_kref formerly served two distinct lifetimes through a single refcount: it gated when a Reply could wake its RPC task, and it gated when an rpcrdma_req could return to its free pool. The marshal path took the Send-side reference only when SGEs needed DMA-unmap (sc_unmap_cou…
Summary: CVE record, as of .
- CISA has not added CVE-2026-72473 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, as of 29 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 53.9), 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 2026.10.29, as of ; CVE List, as of ; FIRST EPSS, as of . About the data.
Description
xprtrdma: Decouple req recycling from RPC completion
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xprtrdma: Decouple req recycling from RPC completion rl_kref formerly served two distinct lifetimes through a single refcount: it gated when a Reply could wake its RPC task, and it gated when an rpcrdma_req could return to its free pool. The marshal path took the Send-side reference only when SGEs needed DMA-unmap (sc_unmap_count > 0), which made a Send carrying only pre-registered buffers an exception: the Reply handler dropped rl_kref from 1 to 0 and freed the req while the HCA might still be DMA-reading from its send buffer. Give rl_kref a narrower job. The RPC layer takes one reference when slot allocation hands a req out. rpcrdma_prepare_send_sges() takes a Send-side reference unconditionally after WR preparation succeeds. xprt_rdma_free_slot() and xprt_rdma_bc_free_rqst() drop the RPC-layer reference; rpcrdma_sendctx_unmap() drops the Send-side reference. The req returns to its free pool only after both owners have signed off. The existing kref_init(&req->rl_kref) call in rpcrdma_prepare_send_sges() is removed. Initialization moves to the slot-allocation paths (xprt_rdma_alloc_slot and rpcrdma_bc_rqst_get), and the release callback re-arms rl_kref before the req returns to a free pool. A re-init in the marshal path would discard the RPC-layer reference that already exists on entry. Three invariants follow: - Any rpcrdma_req held by an rpc_rqst has rl_kref >= 1. xprt_rdma_alloc_slot(), rpcrdma_bc_rqst_get(), and the backlog-wake branch in xprt_rdma_alloc_slot() each kref_init rl_kref before publishing the req. Without this invariant, an RPC task that aborts between slot allocation and marshal (gss_refresh failure or signal during call_connect, for example) would drive xprt_release() -> xprt_rdma_free_slot() -> kref_put against a refcount of zero, saturating refcount_t and stranding the slot. - The Send-side reference is taken only after WR prep succeeds. A mapping failure in rpcrdma_prepare_send_sges() runs rpcrdma_sendctx_cancel(), which DMA-unmaps the sendctx and clears sc_req without touching rl_kref. The sendctx ring walks in rpcrdma_sendctx_put_locked() and rpcrdma_sendctxs_destroy() skip entries with sc_req == NULL, so a burst of -EIO marshal failures cannot hold reqs off rb_send_bufs. - The release callback re-arms rl_kref so the next consumer enters with the invariant satisfied. Replies now complete the RPC directly. rpcrdma_reply_handler() calls rpcrdma_complete_rqst() in place of kref_put on the non-LocalInv branch. The LocalInv branch already completes the RPC from frwr_unmap_async() and is unaffected. Because Send-side references can now outlive RPC completion, connection teardown drains sendctx entries whose unsignaled Sends never had a later signaled completion to walk the ring. rpcrdma_sendctxs_destroy() walks the active range and runs rpcrdma_sendctx_unmap() on each entry with a non-NULL sc_req before the request buffers are reset, and is moved ahead of rpcrdma_reqs_reset() in rpcrdma_xprt_disconnect() so the reqs are still in their pre-reset state when the Send-side refs are released. The drain creates a teardown-ordering hazard on the backchannel path. With the new lifetime, releasing a bc_prealloc req from rpcrdma_req_release() re-adds it to bc_pa_list. The disconnect in xprt_rdma_destroy() runs after xprt_destroy_backchannel() has already emptied bc_pa_list, so the drained reqs would otherwise leak. xprt_rdma_destroy() now runs xprt_rdma_bc_destroy(xprt, 0) a second time after the disconnect to reclaim them.
Source: CVE List, as of . About the data.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| CVE record published | |
| CVE record last updated |
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