CVE-2026-72123
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: can: bcm: defer rx_op deallocation to workqueue to fix thrtimer UAF Commit f1b4e32aca08 ("can: bcm: use call_rcu() instead of costly synchronize_rcu()") replaced synchronize_rcu() in bcm_delete_rx_op() with call_rcu() and introduced the RX_NO_AUTOTIMER flag. However, this flag check was omitted for thrtimer in the packet rx fast-path. During BCM RX operation teardown, a concurrent RCU reader (bcm_rx_handler) can race and re-arm thrtimer via bcm_rx_update_and_send() after call_rcu() has been scheduled. Once the RCU grace period elapses, bcm_op is freed. The subsequently firing thrtimer then dereferences the deallocated op, causing a UAF. Adding flag checks to the rx fast-path (bcm_rx_update_and_send) does not fully close the TOCTOU race and introduces latency for every CAN frame. Conversely, calling hrtimer_cancel() directly inside the RCU callback (softirq context) is fatal as hrtimer_cancel() can sleep, triggering a "scheduling while atomic" panic. Resolve this by deferring the timer cancellation and memory free to a dedicated unbound workqueue (bcm_wq). The RCU callback now queues a work item to bcm_wq, which safely cancels both timers and deallocates memory in sleepable process context. A dedicated workqueue is used to prevent system-wide WQ saturation and is cleanly flushed/destroyed on module unload to avoid rmmod page faults. Since the deferred work can now outlive the calling context by an unbounded amount, also take a reference on op->sk when it is assigned and drop it only once the deferred work has cancelled both timers, so a socket can no longer be freed out from under a still-armed timer whose callback (bcm_send_to_user()) dereferences op->sk.
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
4.19.252,
5.4.205,
5.10.130,
5.15.54,
5.18.11,
5.19
and later are affected. Fixed in
6.1.178,
6.6.145,
6.12.97,
6.18.40,
7.1.5,
7.2-rc4
and their respective stable series.
References
6 totalFrequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-72123?
CVE-2026-72123 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.19.252 onward and has been patched in 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97 and others. CVE-2026-72123 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72123?
Yes. CVE-2026-72123 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.19.252 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2026-72123 actively exploited?
No. CVE-2026-72123 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.