High [CVE-2026-53239] fix use-after-free on inexact bin in xfrm_policy_bysel_ctx
This high-severity Red Hat Linux advisory covers CVE-2026-53239 affecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.
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Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfrm: policy: fix use-after-free on inexact bin in xfrm_policy_bysel_ctx() Fix the race by pruning the bin while still holding xfrm_policy_lock, before dropping it. Use __xfrm_policy_inexact_prune_bin() directly since the lock is already held.
The wrapper xfrm_policy_inexact_prune_bin() becomes unused and is removed.
Race: CPU0 (XFRM_MSG_DELPOLICY) CPU1 (XFRM_MSG_NEWSPDINFO) ========================== ========================== xfrm_policy_bysel_ctx(): spin_lock_bh(xfrm_policy_lock) bin = xfrm_policy_inexact_lookup() __xfrm_policy_unlink(pol) spin_unlock_bh(xfrm_policy_lock) xfrm_policy_kill(ret) // wide window, lock not held xfrm_hash_rebuild(): spin_lock_bh(xfrm_policy_lock) __xfrm_policy_inexact_flush(): kfree_rcu(bin) // bin freed spin_unlock_bh(xfrm_policy_lock) xfrm_policy_inexact_prune_bin(bin) // UAF: bin is freed A race condition exists in the `xfrm` policy handling, specifically within the `xfrm_policy_bysel_ctx()` function.
This flaw allows for a use-after-free vulnerability, where memory is accessed after it has been released. This can lead to system instability or a denial of service (DoS), making the system unresponsive or causing it to crash.
Red Hat severity: Moderate — CVSS 7 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H). Weakness: CWE-364.
Affected versions
No affected-version range was extracted from the source record. The vendor advisory is authoritative — check it before change work.
Official advisory · medium-confidence parse· fetched 9 days ago·verify at source
Fixed versions
No fixed release is recorded yet. That does not prove no patch exists — confirm against the vendor advisory.
Official advisory · medium-confidence parse· fetched 9 days ago·verify at source
Mitigation
The source record does not include mitigation steps. That is not a statement that no fix exists — read the vendor advisory below for the authoritative guidance.
Official advisory · medium-confidence parse· fetched 9 days ago·verify at source
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