Race Condition Vulnerability in Linux Kernel's SMC Listener Handling

CVE-2026-74692

What is CVE-2026-74692?

A vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel related to race conditions that occur between the smc_listen_out() function and the closure of a listener. Specifically, the function accesses the state of a socket without holding the required lock, allowing for a state transition that could lead to a memory leak if a remote peer establishes connections while a listener is being closed. This scenario results in unguarded work items continuing to operate, potentially leading to kernel memory exhaustion due to leaks. To mitigate this issue, the locking mechanism has been modified to occur before state checks, ensuring atomicity during listener operations.

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