Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

9p/xen: protect xen_9pfs_front_free against concurrent calls

The xenwatch thread can race with other back-end change notifications
and call xen_9pfs_front_free() twice, hitting the observed general
protection fault due to a double-free. Guard the teardown path so only
one caller can release the front-end state at a time, preventing the
crash.

This is a fix for the following double-free:

[ 27.052347] Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0x6b6b6b6b6b6b6b6b: 0000 [#1] SMP DEBUG_PAGEALLOC NOPTI
[ 27.052357] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 32 Comm: xenwatch Not tainted 6.18.0-02087-g51ab33fc0a8b-dirty #60 PREEMPT(none)
[ 27.052363] RIP: e030:xen_9pfs_front_free+0x1d/0x150
[ 27.052368] Code: 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 41 55 41 54 55 48 89 fd 48 c7 c7 48 d0 92 85 53 e8 cb cb 05 00 48 8b 45 08 48 8b 55 00 <48> 3b 28 0f 85 f9 28 35 fe 48 3b 6a 08 0f 85 ef 28 35 fe 48 89 42
[ 27.052377] RSP: e02b:ffffc9004016fdd0 EFLAGS: 00010246
[ 27.052381] RAX: 6b6b6b6b6b6b6b6b RBX: ffff88800d66e400 RCX: 0000000000000000
[ 27.052385] RDX: 6b6b6b6b6b6b6b6b RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000
[ 27.052389] RBP: ffff88800a887040 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
[ 27.052393] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff888009e46b68
[ 27.052397] R13: 0000000000000200 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff88800a887040
[ 27.052404] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88808ca57000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[ 27.052408] CS: e030 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[ 27.052412] CR2: 00007f9714004360 CR3: 0000000004834000 CR4: 0000000000050660
[ 27.052418] Call Trace:
[ 27.052420] <TASK>
[ 27.052422] xen_9pfs_front_changed+0x5d5/0x720
[ 27.052426] ? xenbus_otherend_changed+0x72/0x140
[ 27.052430] ? __pfx_xenwatch_thread+0x10/0x10
[ 27.052434] xenwatch_thread+0x94/0x1c0
[ 27.052438] ? __pfx_autoremove_wake_function+0x10/0x10
[ 27.052442] kthread+0xf8/0x240
[ 27.052445] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
[ 27.052449] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
[ 27.052452] ret_from_fork+0x16b/0x1a0
[ 27.052456] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
[ 27.052459] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30
[ 27.052463] </TASK>
[ 27.052465] Modules linked in:
[ 27.052471] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
Published: 2026-05-06
Score: 8.8 High
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

Impact

The Linux kernel xen 9p subsystem contains a double‑free flaw in the front‑end teardown path. The xenwatch thread can call xen_9pfs_front_free() twice, causing a general protection fault and immediately crashing the kernel. This denial of service can bring down all services running on the affected host, but the provided data do not indicate arbitrary code execution or privilege escalation.

Affected Systems

Vendors shipping the standard Linux kernel with 9p support in Xen are affected until the patch that adds a guard to the xen_9pfs_front_free path is applied. The advisory does not list exact version ranges; administrators should verify the presence of commit 59e7707492576bdbfa8c1dbe7d90791df31e4773 or later in their kernel source or distribution kernel. Both generic Linux distributions and custom kernels used in Xen deployments may need review.

Risk and Exploitability

The CVSS score of 8.8 reflects a high severity for a kernel crash, while the EPSS score of <1% indicates a low likelihood of exploitation at this time. The flaw is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. The attack is inferred to be a race condition triggered by a guest or malicious Xen configuration; privileged kernel access is required, so the attack surface is limited to trusted Xen hosts.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on May 11, 2026 at 18:29 UTC.

Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Apply a kernel patch that includes the guard for xen_9pfs_front_free, such as the commit identified by 59e7707492576bdbfa8c1dbe7d90791df31e4773 or any later release that incorporates this change.
  • If a kernel update is not possible, disable 9p filesystem support in all Xen hypervisor configurations to eliminate the vulnerable code path.
  • Continuously monitor host logs for xenwatch thread errors or kernel panics and verify that the patch remains present after any kernel maintenance or re‑installation.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on May 11, 2026 at 18:29 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories yet.

History

Mon, 11 May 2026 15:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-415

Fri, 08 May 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 8.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Thu, 07 May 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-364
References

Wed, 06 May 2026 12:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: 9p/xen: protect xen_9pfs_front_free against concurrent calls The xenwatch thread can race with other back-end change notifications and call xen_9pfs_front_free() twice, hitting the observed general protection fault due to a double-free. Guard the teardown path so only one caller can release the front-end state at a time, preventing the crash. This is a fix for the following double-free: [ 27.052347] Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0x6b6b6b6b6b6b6b6b: 0000 [#1] SMP DEBUG_PAGEALLOC NOPTI [ 27.052357] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 32 Comm: xenwatch Not tainted 6.18.0-02087-g51ab33fc0a8b-dirty #60 PREEMPT(none) [ 27.052363] RIP: e030:xen_9pfs_front_free+0x1d/0x150 [ 27.052368] Code: 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 41 55 41 54 55 48 89 fd 48 c7 c7 48 d0 92 85 53 e8 cb cb 05 00 48 8b 45 08 48 8b 55 00 <48> 3b 28 0f 85 f9 28 35 fe 48 3b 6a 08 0f 85 ef 28 35 fe 48 89 42 [ 27.052377] RSP: e02b:ffffc9004016fdd0 EFLAGS: 00010246 [ 27.052381] RAX: 6b6b6b6b6b6b6b6b RBX: ffff88800d66e400 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 27.052385] RDX: 6b6b6b6b6b6b6b6b RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000 [ 27.052389] RBP: ffff88800a887040 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 27.052393] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff888009e46b68 [ 27.052397] R13: 0000000000000200 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff88800a887040 [ 27.052404] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88808ca57000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 27.052408] CS: e030 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 27.052412] CR2: 00007f9714004360 CR3: 0000000004834000 CR4: 0000000000050660 [ 27.052418] Call Trace: [ 27.052420] <TASK> [ 27.052422] xen_9pfs_front_changed+0x5d5/0x720 [ 27.052426] ? xenbus_otherend_changed+0x72/0x140 [ 27.052430] ? __pfx_xenwatch_thread+0x10/0x10 [ 27.052434] xenwatch_thread+0x94/0x1c0 [ 27.052438] ? __pfx_autoremove_wake_function+0x10/0x10 [ 27.052442] kthread+0xf8/0x240 [ 27.052445] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 27.052449] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 27.052452] ret_from_fork+0x16b/0x1a0 [ 27.052456] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 27.052459] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 27.052463] </TASK> [ 27.052465] Modules linked in: [ 27.052471] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
Title 9p/xen: protect xen_9pfs_front_free against concurrent calls
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Subscriptions

Linux Linux Kernel
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-05-23T16:06:33.972Z

Reserved: 2026-05-01T14:12:55.996Z

Link: CVE-2026-43249

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2026-05-06T12:16:45.493

Modified: 2026-05-11T13:10:20.973

Link: CVE-2026-43249

cve-icon Redhat

Severity :

Publid Date: 2026-05-06T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-43249 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-05-11T18:30:05Z

Weaknesses