CVE-2026-63827

Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities

criticalEPSS 0.1%

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: apparmor: fix use-after-free in rawdata dedup loop aa_replace_profiles() walks ns->rawdata_list to dedup the incoming policy blob against entries already attached to existing profiles. Per the kernel-doc on struct aa_loaddata, list membership does not hold a reference: profiles hold pcount, and when the last pcount drops, do_ploaddata_rmfs() is queued on a workqueue that takes ns->lock and removes the entry. Between dropping the last pcount and the workqueue running, an entry remains on the list with pcount == 0. aa_get_profile_loaddata() is an unconditional kref_get() on pcount, so when the dedup loop hits such an entry, refcount hardening reports refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free. inside aa_replace_profiles(), and the poisoned counter then trips "saturated" and "underflow" warnings on the subsequent uses of the same loaddata. Before commit a0b7091c4de4 ("apparmor: fix race on rawdata dereference") the dedup path used a get_unless_zero-style helper on a single counter, so the existing "if (tmp)" guard was meaningful. The split-refcount refactor introduced aa_get_profile_loaddata(), which has plain kref_get() semantics, and the guard quietly became a no-op. Introduce aa_get_profile_loaddata_not0(), matching the existing _not0 convention used by aa_get_profile_not0(), and use it for the rawdata_list dedup lookup so dying entries are skipped. Reproduced on x86_64 with v7.1-rc5 in QEMU+KVM running Ubuntu 24.04 + stress-ng 0.17.06: stress-ng --apparmor 1 --klog-check --timeout 60s Without this patch the three refcount_t warnings fire within a few seconds. With it the same 60 s run is clean. Coverage is a smoke-test only; a longer soak with CONFIG_KASAN, CONFIG_KCSAN and CONFIG_PROVE_LOCKING would be welcome from anyone with the cycles.

Metrics

Severity
critical
no public PoC known
9.8
Source: nvd-v3
2.4 %
Low — this CVE sits in the lower 10% of all CVEs scored today.
0.1 %
Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
Published
2026-09-07 09:05 UTC

Reanalysis & status changes

Chronological NVD audit events for this CVE — reanalyses, CVSS updates, CPE diffs.

  1. CVE Modified2026-08-17 05:17 UTC· 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
    • Affected: Linux, LinuxLinux, Linux
  2. CVE Modified2026-07-24 15:19 UTC· 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
    • Reference: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/643221da57dbb1a8fd800610331cf1ec27969f71
    • Reference: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b17f0c59cc1525765625cf07d0391b7f9c1ed7e5
    • Affected: Linux, LinuxLinux, Linux
  3. New CVE Received2026-07-19 12:16 UTC· 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
    • Affected: Linux, Linux
    • Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: apparmor: fix use-after-free in rawdata dedup loop aa_replace_profiles() walks ns->rawdata_list to dedup the incoming policy blob against entries already attached to existing profiles. Per the kernel-doc on struct aa_loaddata, list membership does not hold a reference: profiles hold pcount, and when the last pcount drops, do_ploaddata_rmfs() is queued on a workqueue that takes ns->lock and removes the entry. Between dropping the last pcount and the workqueue running, an entry remains on the list with pcount == 0. aa_get_profile_loaddata() is an unconditional kref_get() on pcount, so when the dedup loop hits such an entry, refcount hardening reports refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free. inside aa_replace_profiles(), and the poisoned counter then trips "saturated" and "underflow" warnings on the subsequent uses of the same loaddata. Before commit a0b7091c4de4 ("apparmor: fix race on rawdata dereference") the dedup path used a get_unless_zero-style helper on a single counter, so the existing "if (tmp)" guard was meaningful. The split-refcount refactor introduced aa_get_profile_loaddata(), which has plain kref_get() semantics, and the guard quietly became a no-op. Introduce aa_get_profile_loaddata_not0(), matching the existing _not0 convention used by aa_get_profile_not0(), and use it for the rawdata_list dedup lookup so dying entries are skipped. Reproduced on x86_64 with v7.1-rc5 in QEMU+KVM running Ubuntu 24.04 + stress-ng 0.17.06: stress-ng --apparmor 1 --klog-check --timeout 60s Without this patch the three refcount_t warnings fire within a few seconds. With it the same 60 s run is clean. Coverage is a smoke-test only; a longer soak with CONFIG_KASAN, CONFIG_KCSAN and CONFIG_PROVE_LOCKING would be welcome from anyone with the cycles.
    • Reference: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/15fd83a1e42ede15070968806bb6c8b1a5170688
    • Reference: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5e34fa9f6f7cd688ae153fff13139a5cf2d42339

Affected operating systems

  • linux

    redhat / enterprise_linux10.0

  • linux

    redhat / enterprise_linux7.0

  • linux

    redhat / enterprise_linux8.0

  • linux

    redhat / enterprise_linux9.0

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-aws-6.8jammy

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-azureresolute

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-azuretrusty

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-azurexenial

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-azure-4.15bionic

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-azure-5.4bionic

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-azure-fdenoble

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-azure-fderesolute

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-azure-fde-6.8jammy

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-azure-fipsbionic

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-azure-fipsfocal

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-azure-fipsnoble

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-fipsjammy

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-gcp-7.0noble

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-gkejammy

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-nvidia-tegranoble

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-raspinoble

  • linux

    ubuntu / linux-raspi-realtimenoble

  • linux

    linux / linux_kernel2.6.12

  • linux

    linux / linux_kernel2.6.15

References & sources

Linked CVEs

Show 1392 more CVEs
IDCVE-2026-63827
Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities — CVE-2026-63827 | NEOSEC Intel