A flaw in the Linux kernel’s tracing/histograms subsystem causes the reference count of a synthetic event to be decremented when a histogram is registered or unregistered for a non‑synthetic event that shares the same basename. Because the code only compares the basename, an unrelated histogram operation can alter the synthetic event’s counter, leading to the synthetic event being freed while a histogram still holds a pointer to it. This results in a use‑after‑free condition that may corrupt memory or crash the kernel.

All Linux kernel releases prior to the commit that introduced the find_synth_event_call patch. The affected products are Linux kernel distributions that expose the tracing/histograms interface and have not yet applied the fix.

The CVSS score is 7.8, indicating high severity, and the EPSS score is not available. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA’s KEV catalog. Based on the description, it is inferred that exploiting the flaw would require local or privileged access that allows manipulation of kernel tracing events, typically through the tracefs interface. Successful exploitation could cause kernel memory corruption, leading to a kernel crash or potential privilege escalation, although these consequences are not explicitly detailed in the CVE record.