{
  "threat_severity" : "Important",
  "public_date" : "2026-05-30T00:00:00Z",
  "bugzilla" : {
    "description" : "kernel: eventpoll: fix ep_remove struct eventpoll / struct file UAF",
    "id" : "2483519",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2483519"
  },
  "cvss3" : {
    "cvss3_base_score" : "7.0",
    "cvss3_scoring_vector" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
    "status" : "verified"
  },
  "cwe" : "CWE-825",
  "details" : [ "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\neventpoll: fix ep_remove struct eventpoll / struct file UAF\nep_remove() (via ep_remove_file()) cleared file->f_ep under\nfile->f_lock but then kept using @file inside the critical section\n(is_file_epoll(), hlist_del_rcu() through the head, spin_unlock).\nA concurrent __fput() taking the eventpoll_release() fastpath in\nthat window observed the transient NULL, skipped\neventpoll_release_file() and ran to f_op->release / file_free().\nFor the epoll-watches-epoll case, f_op->release is\nep_eventpoll_release() -> ep_clear_and_put() -> ep_free(), which\nkfree()s the watched struct eventpoll. Its embedded ->refs\nhlist_head is exactly where epi->fllink.pprev points, so the\nsubsequent hlist_del_rcu()'s \"*pprev = next\" scribbles into freed\nkmalloc-192 memory.\nIn addition, struct file is SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU, so the slot\nbacking @file could be recycled by alloc_empty_file() --\nreinitializing f_lock and f_ep -- while ep_remove() is still\nnominally inside that lock. The upshot is an attacker-controllable\nkmem_cache_free() against the wrong slab cache.\nPin @file via epi_fget() at the top of ep_remove() and gate the\ncritical section on the pin succeeding. With the pin held @file\ncannot reach refcount zero, which holds __fput() off and\ntransitively keeps the watched struct eventpoll alive across the\nhlist_del_rcu() and the f_lock use, closing both UAFs.\nIf the pin fails @file has already reached refcount zero and its\n__fput() is in flight. Because we bailed before clearing f_ep,\nthat path takes the eventpoll_release() slow path into\neventpoll_release_file() and blocks on ep->mtx until the waiter\nside's ep_clear_and_put() drops it. The bailed epi's share of\nep->refcount stays intact, so the trailing ep_refcount_dec_and_test()\nin ep_clear_and_put() cannot free the eventpoll out from under\neventpoll_release_file(); the orphaned epi is then cleaned up\nthere.\nA successful pin also proves we are not racing\neventpoll_release_file() on this epi, so drop the now-redundant\nre-check of epi->dying under f_lock. The cheap lockless\nREAD_ONCE(epi->dying) fast-path bailout stays.", "A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's `eventpoll` mechanism. A Use-After-Free (UAF) vulnerability, where the system attempts to access memory after it has been freed, can occur during the removal of a file. A local attacker could exploit this race condition to corrupt memory, potentially leading to privilege escalation or arbitrary code execution. This allows an attacker to gain elevated control over the system." ],
  "statement" : "A race in eventpoll ep_remove() can let a concurrent file release observe a transient cleared file f_ep state and skip the normal eventpoll_release_file cleanup path. In the epoll watches epoll case this can free the watched struct eventpoll while ep_remove() still uses list pointers that refer into that freed object, so hlist_del_rcu() can write into freed kmalloc memory. This is a use-after-free memory corruption issue rather than a pure crash or resource leak. For the CVSS the AC:H is selected because reliable triggering depends on a race window between ep_remove() and __fput(). The issue is not network reachable. Impact is at least a local denial of service via kernel crash and in worst case may allow confidentiality, integrity, and availability compromise due to kernel heap memory corruption. Keeping Moderate with CVSS 7.0, but could be increased to the Important if reproducer becomes available that shows LPE possibility.\nRHEL 9.0 and 9.2 are not affected.",
  "affected_release" : [ {
    "product_name" : "NVIDIA for RHEL 10",
    "release_date" : "2026-07-07T00:00:00Z",
    "advisory" : "RHSA-2026:36186",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux_nvidia:10::el10",
    "package" : "kernel-0:6.12.0-231.15.el10nv"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10",
    "release_date" : "2026-07-08T00:00:00Z",
    "advisory" : "RHSA-2026:36541",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10.2",
    "package" : "kernel-0:6.12.0-211.31.1.el10_2"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support",
    "release_date" : "2026-07-14T00:00:00Z",
    "advisory" : "RHSA-2026:39371",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0",
    "package" : "kernel-0:6.12.0-55.88.1.el10_0"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9",
    "release_date" : "2026-07-08T00:00:00Z",
    "advisory" : "RHSA-2026:36645",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:9",
    "package" : "kernel-0:5.14.0-687.23.1.el9_8"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9",
    "release_date" : "2026-07-08T00:00:00Z",
    "advisory" : "RHSA-2026:36645",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9",
    "package" : "kernel-0:5.14.0-687.23.1.el9_8"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Update Services for SAP Solutions",
    "release_date" : "2026-07-10T00:00:00Z",
    "advisory" : "RHSA-2026:37729",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_e4s:9.4",
    "package" : "kernel-0:5.14.0-427.137.1.el9_4"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support",
    "release_date" : "2026-07-13T00:00:00Z",
    "advisory" : "RHSA-2026:38902",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_eus:9.6",
    "package" : "kernel-0:5.14.0-570.127.1.el9_6"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.20",
    "release_date" : "2026-07-21T00:00:00Z",
    "advisory" : "RHSA-2026:40787",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4.20::el9",
    "package" : "rhcos-4.20.9.6.202607151937-0"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.21",
    "release_date" : "2026-07-21T00:00:00Z",
    "advisory" : "RHSA-2026:40779",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4.21::el9",
    "package" : "rhcos-4.21.9.6.202607151836-0"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.22",
    "release_date" : "2026-07-21T00:00:00Z",
    "advisory" : "RHSA-2026:40764",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4.22::el9",
    "package" : "rhcos-4.22.9.8.202607152026-0"
  } ],
  "package_state" : [ {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6",
    "fix_state" : "Not affected",
    "package_name" : "kernel",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7",
    "fix_state" : "Not affected",
    "package_name" : "kernel",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7",
    "fix_state" : "Not affected",
    "package_name" : "kernel-rt",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8",
    "fix_state" : "Not affected",
    "package_name" : "kernel",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8",
    "fix_state" : "Not affected",
    "package_name" : "kernel-rt",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8"
  }, {
    "product_name" : "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9",
    "fix_state" : "Not affected",
    "package_name" : "kernel-rt",
    "cpe" : "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9"
  } ],
  "references" : [ "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-46242\nhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-46242\nhttps://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026053014-CVE-2026-46242-8394@gregkh/T" ],
  "csaw" : true,
  "name" : "CVE-2026-46242",
  "mitigation" : {
    "value" : "Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.",
    "lang" : "en:us"
  }
}