Linux Kernel up to 6.12.81/6.18.22/6.19.12 lan966x_fdma_reload use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.81/6.18.22/6.19.12. It has been rated as critical. Affected is the function lan966x_fdma_reload. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2026-31644. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.81/6.18.22/6.19.12. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function lan966x_fdma_reload. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: lan966x: fix use-after-free and leak in lan966x_fdma_reload() When lan966x_fdma_reload() fails to allocate new RX buffers, the restore path restarts DMA using old descriptors whose pages were already freed via lan966x_fdma_rx_free_pages(). Since page_pool_put_full_page() can release pages back to the buddy allocator, the hardware may DMA into memory now owned by other kernel subsystems. Additionally, on the restore path, the newly created page pool (if allocation partially succeeded) is overwritten without being destroyed, leaking it. Fix both issues by deferring the release of old pages until after the new allocation succeeds. Save the old page array before the allocation so old pages can be freed on the success path. On the failure path, the old descriptors, pages and page pool are all still valid, making the restore safe. Also ensure the restore path re-enables NAPI and wakes the netdev, matching the success path.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-31644 since 03/09/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 05/26/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 310326 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-31644), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.82, 6.18.23 or 6.19.13 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 691082c0b93c13a5e068c0905f673060bddc204e/92a673019943770930e2a8bfd52e1aad47a1fc1f/9950e9199b3dfdfbde0b8d96ba947d7b11243801/59c3d55a946cacdb4181600723c20ac4f4c20c84 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (310326) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-1279). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.12.60
• 6.12.61
• 6.12.62
• 6.12.63
• 6.12.64
• 6.12.65
• 6.12.66
• 6.12.67
• 6.12.68
• 6.12.69
• 6.12.70
• 6.12.71
• 6.12.72
• 6.12.73
• 6.12.74
• 6.12.75
• 6.12.76
• 6.12.77
• 6.12.78
• 6.12.79
• 6.12.80
• 6.12.81
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.19.0
• 6.19.1
• 6.19.2
• 6.19.3
• 6.19.4
• 6.19.5
• 6.19.6
• 6.19.7
• 6.19.8
• 6.19.9
• 6.19.10
• 6.19.11
• 6.19.12

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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