Use-After-Free Vulnerability in Linux Kernel Affecting USB Gadget Functionality

CVE-2026-90044

What is CVE-2026-90044?

A vulnerability has been identified in the Linux kernel related to the USB gadget interface. Specifically, a race condition during asynchronous input/output (AIO) operations can lead to a Use-After-Free scenario. This occurs when the io_data structure is freed after an AIO operation fails, but a concurrent cancel operation accesses this freed pointer before it is un-armed. To mitigate this issue, the cancellation handler now properly invokes a function to safely handle the kiocb, which removes it from the active sequence and closes the race window, thereby preventing unauthorized access to the freed memory.

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