CVE-2026-53389

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

net/tcp-ao: fix use-after-free of key in del_async path

In tcp_ao_delete_key(), the del_async path skips the current_key and rnext_key validity checks present in the synchronous path, assuming these pointers are always NULL on LISTEN sockets. However, if a key was added with set_current=1/set_rnext=1 while the socket was in CLOSE state, current_key and rnext_key will be non-NULL after listen() transitions the socket to LISTEN.

When such a key is deleted with del_async=1, hlist_del_rcu() and call_rcu() free the key without clearing the dangling pointers. After the RCU grace period, getsockopt(TCP_AO_INFO) dereferences current_key->sndid and rnext_key->rcvid from freed slab memory.

Clear current_key and rnext_key in the del_async path when they reference the key being deleted.

Weakness

The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory “belongs” to the code that operates on the new pointer.

Affected Software

Potential Mitigations

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5ba9950bc9078e19b69cca1e56d1553b125c6857
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6ce7ef41743740ce15c2061561b784148b565b3f
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ddc29a094d96e9b3aa280433c6dc443df9eabf2
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e77fbefd1269b5c123e7c651a1ebdce1b87d19a0