CVE-2026-63827 Details
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: apparmor: fix use-after-free in rawdata dedup loop aa_replace_profiles() walks ns->rawdata_list to dedup the incoming policy blob against entries already attached to existing profiles. Per the kernel-doc on struct aa_loaddata, list membership does not hold a reference: profiles hold pcount, and when the last pcount drops, do_ploaddata_rmfs() is queued on a workqueue that takes ns->lock and removes the entry. Between dropping the last pcount and the workqueue running, an entry remains on the list with pcount == 0. aa_get_profile_loaddata() is an unconditional kref_get() on pcount, so when the dedup loop hits such an entry, refcount hardening reports refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free. inside aa_replace_profiles(), and the poisoned counter then trips "saturated" and "underflow" warnings on the subsequent uses of the same loaddata. Before commit a0b7091c4de4 ("apparmor: fix race on rawdata dereference") the dedup path used a get_unless_zero-style helper on a single counter, so the existing "if (tmp)" guard was meaningful. The split-refcount refactor introduced aa_get_profile_loaddata(), which has plain kref_get() semantics, and the guard quietly became a no-op. Introduce aa_get_profile_loaddata_not0(), matching the existing _not0 convention used by aa_get_profile_not0(), and use it for the rawdata_list dedup lookup so dying entries are skipped. Reproduced on x86_64 with v7.1-rc5 in QEMU+KVM running Ubuntu 24.04 + stress-ng 0.17.06: stress-ng --apparmor 1 --klog-check --timeout 60s Without this patch the three refcount_t warnings fire within a few seconds. With it the same 60 s run is clean. Coverage is a smoke-test only; a longer soak with CONFIG_KASAN, CONFIG_KCSAN and CONFIG_PROVE_LOCKING would be welcome from anyone with the cycles.
A use-after-free vulnerability has been identified in the Linux kernel's AppArmor subsystem, specifically within the profile loading process. This issue arises in versions of the Linux kernel prior to the patch included in version 7.1-rc5. The vulnerability is rooted in how the kernel manages reference counts for profile data. When the last reference count drops, the entry is removed from the raw data list, but a brief window exists where the entry can be accessed again, leading to a use-after-free condition. This was exacerbated by a recent refactor that changed how reference counts are handled, introducing a race condition that could be exploited. The vulnerability was reproduced in a QEMU/KVM environment running Ubuntu 24.04, using the stress-ng tool to simulate the conditions necessary for exploitation.
Users can upgrade to the latest stable version of the Linux kernel to address this vulnerability. The specific commit that fixes this issue is included in the Linux kernel version 7.1-rc5.
Metrics
CVSS 4.0 Severity and Vector Strings:
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CVSS 3.x Severity and Vector Strings:
No data available for CVSS Version 2.0 on this CVE.
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Weakness Enumeration
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Change History
4 change records found show changes
| Date | Action | Recorded By |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Jul 24, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Jul 20, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Jul 19, 2026 | New CVE Received | kernel.org |