Linux Kernel up to 7.1.7/7.2-rc5 fou fou_create use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as very critical has been discovered in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.7/7.2-rc5. This impacts the function fou_create of the component fou. The manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2026-74496. The attack can be launched remotely. No exploit exists.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.7/7.2-rc5. Affected is the function fou_create of the component fou. 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. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fou: Fix use-after-free in fou_create() fou_create() publishes struct fou through sk_user_data before adding the new FOU port to the per-netns list. If fou_add_to_port_list() fails, the error path frees fou while it is still reachable through sk_user_data. A concurrent receive can then dereference the freed object in fou_from_sock(). This ordering issue was previously noted in the linked discussion. The failure is reachable when local port 0 is requested. Each socket binds to a different ephemeral port, but fou_cfg_cmp() compares the requested port 0 and reports -EALREADY once an entry already exists. Release the tunnel socket before freeing fou so sk_user_data is cleared first, and defer reclamation with kfree_rcu() to protect concurrent RCU readers. This matches the lifetime handling in fou_release().

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-74496 since 08/15/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploitation doesn't require any form of authentication. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026).

Upgrading to version 7.1.8 or 7.2-rc6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch a28d8903bfe76089ea4bbdbff9976965f9ef8107/b14361aca6350ff7907b0e9903c7b94dc7d5d4a0 is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 7.1.0
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.4
• 7.1.5
• 7.1.6
• 7.1.7
• 7.2-rc1
• 7.2-rc2
• 7.2-rc3
• 7.2-rc4
• 7.2-rc5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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