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Linux Kernel CVE-2026-43439

| EUVDEUVD-2026-28745 MEDIUM
Race Condition (CWE-362)
2026-05-08 Linux GHSA-53qp-89jc-q338
4.7
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY
4.7 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
SUSE
MEDIUM
qualitative
Red Hat
3.6 LOW
qualitative

Primary rating from NVD.

CVSS VectorNVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

4
Analysis Generated
May 21, 2026 - 17:38 vuln.today
CVSS changed
May 21, 2026 - 17:37 NVD
4.7 (MEDIUM)
Patch available
May 08, 2026 - 16:18 EUVD
CVE Published
May 08, 2026 - 14:22 nvd
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

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

cgroup: fix race between task migration and iteration

When a task is migrated out of a css_set, cgroup_migrate_add_task() first moves it from cset->tasks to cset->mg_tasks via:

list_move_tail(&task->cg_list, &cset->mg_tasks);

If a css_task_iter currently has it->task_pos pointing to this task, css_set_move_task() calls css_task_iter_skip() to keep the iterator valid. However, since the task has already been moved to ->mg_tasks, the iterator is advanced relative to the mg_tasks list instead of the original tasks list. As a result, remaining tasks on cset->tasks, as well as tasks queued on cset->mg_tasks, can be skipped by iteration.

Fix this by calling css_set_skip_task_iters() before unlinking task->cg_list from cset->tasks. This advances all active iterators to the next task on cset->tasks, so iteration continues correctly even when a task is concurrently being migrated.

This race is hard to hit in practice without instrumentation, but it can be reproduced by artificially slowing down cgroup_procs_show(). For example, on an Android device a temporary /sys/kernel/cgroup/cgroup_test knob can be added to inject a delay into cgroup_procs_show(), and then:

  1. Spawn three long-running tasks (PIDs 101, 102, 103).
  2. Create a test cgroup and move the tasks into it.
  3. Enable a large delay via /sys/kernel/cgroup/cgroup_test.
  4. In one shell, read cgroup.procs from the test cgroup.
  5. Within the delay window, in another shell migrate PID 102 by

writing it to a different cgroup.procs file.

Under this setup, cgroup.procs can intermittently show only PID 101 while skipping PID 103. Once the migration completes, reading the file again shows all tasks as expected.

Note that this change does not allow removing the existing css_set_skip_task_iters() call in css_set_move_task(). The new call in cgroup_migrate_add_task() only handles iterators that are racing with migration while the task is still on cset->tasks. Iterators may also start after the task has been moved to cset->mg_tasks. If we dropped css_set_skip_task_iters() from css_set_move_task(), such iterators could keep task_pos pointing to a migrating task, causing css_task_iter_advance() to malfunction on the destination css_set, up to and including crashes or infinite loops.

The race window between migration and iteration is very small, and css_task_iter is not on a hot path. In the worst case, when an iterator is positioned on the first thread of the migrating process, cgroup_migrate_add_task() may have to skip multiple tasks via css_set_skip_task_iters(). However, this only happens when migration and iteration actually race, so the performance impact is negligible compared to the correctness fix provided here.

AnalysisAI

Race condition in the Linux kernel cgroup subsystem's task iterator exposes local low-privileged users to a denial-of-service condition when task migration and cgroup iteration execute concurrently. The cgroup infrastructure fails to advance active css_task_iters before a task is unlinked from cset->tasks during migration, allowing iterators to reference the wrong linked list and silently skip tasks - or in worst-case scenarios, cause css_task_iter_advance() to crash or loop infinitely on the destination css_set. No public exploit identified at time of analysis; EPSS of 0.02% at the 7th percentile reflects extremely low observed exploitation probability and aligns with the narrow race window required.

Technical ContextAI

The Linux kernel cgroup (control group) subsystem uses a css_task_iter structure to iterate over tasks within a css_set (cset). During task migration, cgroup_migrate_add_task() relocates a task from cset->tasks to cset->mg_tasks via list_move_tail(). CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution Using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization) is the root cause: if a live css_task_iter has its task_pos pointer referencing the migrating task at the exact moment of relocation, css_task_iter_skip() is invoked, but because the task is already resident on mg_tasks rather than tasks, the iterator advances against the wrong list. This misalignment causes remaining entries on cset->tasks to be silently skipped, and can cause css_task_iter_advance() to malfunction on the destination css_set - including kernel crashes or infinite loops. The affected CPE is cpe:2.3:a:linux:linux across multiple stable release branches. The fix reorders the call to css_set_skip_task_iters() to occur before the task's cg_list is unlinked from cset->tasks, ensuring all active iterators are properly advanced before list state is modified.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patches are available: upgrade to Linux 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.18.19, 6.19.9, or 7.0 depending on the deployed stable branch. The authoritative fix commits are referenced at https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7c85debc35e6d131bd29c64f2ae78c6ede0e55c4 and the seven sibling backport commits listed in the references. Downstream distributions (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, SUSE, Android) should be checked for corresponding backported patches in their own kernel packages. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict local user write access to cgroup.procs interfaces - for example, tighten cgroup namespace delegation policies in container runtimes or remove cgroup write permissions from untrusted user contexts; note this may affect workload scheduling and container management functionality. Given the high attack complexity and local-only vector, temporary deferral with compensating access controls is a reasonable interim posture for most production environments while the patch is qualified.

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Medium
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 Fixed

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CVE-2026-43439 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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