Linux Kernel up to 6.1.16/6.2.3/6.18.51/7.2.5 blk-cgroup blkcg_activate_policy pd use after free

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
8.4	$0-$5k	0.39-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.16/6.2.3/6.18.51/7.2.5. It has been declared as very critical. This vulnerability affects the function blkcg_activate_policy of the component blk-cgroup. The manipulation of the argument pd results in use after free. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-90326. Attacking locally is a requirement. No exploit is available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.16/6.2.3/6.18.51/7.2.5. It has been classified as very critical. Affected is the function blkcg_activate_policy of the component blk-cgroup. The manipulation of the argument pd 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: blk-cgroup: fix race between policy activation and blkg destruction When switching an IO scheduler on a block device, blkcg_activate_policy() allocates blkg_policy_data (pd) for all blkgs attached to the queue. However, blkcg_activate_policy() may race with concurrent blkcg deletion, leading to use-after-free and memory leak issues. The use-after-free occurs in the following race: T1 (blkcg_activate_policy): - Successfully allocates pd for blkg1 (loop0->queue, blkcgA) - Fails to allocate pd for blkg2 (loop0->queue, blkcgB) - Enters the enomem rollback path to release blkg1 resources T2 (blkcg deletion): - blkcgA is deleted concurrently - blkg1 is freed via blkg_free_workfn() - blkg1->pd is freed T1 (continued): - Rollback path accesses blkg1->pd->online after pd is freed - Triggers use-after-free In addition, blkg_free_workfn() frees pd before removing the blkg from q->blkg_list. This allows blkcg_activate_policy() to allocate a new pd for a blkg that is being destroyed, leaving the newly allocated pd unreachable when the blkg is finally freed. Fix these races by extending blkcg_mutex coverage to serialize blkcg_activate_policy() rollback and blkg destruction, ensuring pd lifecycle is synchronized with blkg list visibility.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-90326 since 09/11/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 09/17/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.1.17, 6.2.4, 6.18.52, 7.2.6 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch b5dae1cd0d8368b4338430ff93403df67f0b8bcc/083b58373463a6e5ee60ecb135269348f68ad7df/ac34e655dffa74349d885a43d098115336f53842/2cf9f50a38c1839e549a08e22aa35e8d69e2c8fd/5313d4d41739b0cb63000747c97bb1217ac45f3e is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4
• 6.1.5
• 6.1.6
• 6.1.7
• 6.1.8
• 6.1.9
• 6.1.10
• 6.1.11
• 6.1.12
• 6.1.13
• 6.1.14
• 6.1.15
• 6.1.16
• 6.2.0
• 6.2.1
• 6.2.2
• 6.2.3
• 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
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 8.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.4

VulDB Base Score: 8.8
VulDB Temp Score: 8.4
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.1.17/6.2.4/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc1
Patch: b5dae1cd0d8368b4338430ff93403df67f0b8bcc/083b58373463a6e5ee60ecb135269348f68ad7df/ac34e655dffa74349d885a43d098115336f53842/2cf9f50a38c1839e549a08e22aa35e8d69e2c8fd/5313d4d41739b0cb63000747c97bb1217ac45f3e

Timelineinfo

09/11/2026 CVE reserved
09/17/2026 +6 days Advisory disclosed
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-90326 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-90326
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-406860

Entryinfo

Created: 09/17/2026 21:36
Changes: 09/17/2026 21:36 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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