Expired Pointer Dereference Affecting kernel-rt package, versions *


Severity

Recommended
medium

Based on CentOS security rating.

Threat Intelligence

Exploit Maturity
Proof of Concept
EPSS
0.13% (3rd percentile)

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  • Snyk IDSNYK-CENTOS10-KERNELRT-18634829
  • published15 Aug 2026
  • disclosed10 Aug 2026

Introduced: 10 Aug 2026

NewCVE-2026-68398  (opens in a new tab)
CWE-825  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

There is no fixed version for Centos:10 kernel-rt.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream kernel-rt package and not the kernel-rt package as distributed by Centos. See How to fix? for Centos:10 relevant fixed versions and status.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ppp: defer channel free to an RCU grace period to fix pppol2tp RX UAF

pppol2tp_recv() runs in the L2TP UDP-encap softirq RX path:

l2tp_udp_encap_recv() -> l2tp_recv_common() -> pppol2tp_recv() -> ppp_input(&po->chan)

It runs under rcu_read_lock() holding only an l2tp_session reference and takes NO reference on the internal PPP channel (struct channel, chan->ppp) that ppp_input() dereferences.

The pppox socket is SOCK_RCU_FREE, so 'po' and the embedded ppp_channel are RCU-safe. But the internal struct channel is a separate allocation that ppp_release_channel() frees with a plain kfree():

close(data socket) -> pppol2tp_release() -> pppox_unbind_sock() -> ppp_unregister_channel() -> ppp_release_channel() -> kfree(pch)

For a channel that is bound (PPPIOCGCHAN) but not attached to a ppp unit (no PPPIOCCONNECT, pch->ppp == NULL) and not bridged, teardown skips both ppp_disconnect_channel()'s synchronize_net() and ppp_unbridge_channels()'s synchronize_rcu(), so the kfree() has no grace period. rcu_read_lock() in pppol2tp_recv() does not protect against a plain kfree(), so an in-flight ppp_input() on one CPU can dereference the channel just freed by close() on another CPU.

The bug is reachable by an unprivileged user.

Defer the channel free to an RCU callback via call_rcu() so the grace period fences any in-flight ppp_input(). The disconnect and unbridge teardown paths already fence with synchronize_net()/synchronize_rcu(); call_rcu() does the same here without stalling the close() path.

CVSS Base Scores

version 3.1