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Linux Kernel CVE-2026-72221

| EUVDEUVD-2026-59120 CRITICAL
2026-08-15 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 GHSA-5gf3-c25p-fm95
9.8
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
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Severity by source

Vendor (416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67) PRIMARY
9.8 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI
6.5 MEDIUM

Network-reachable RPC-TLS server but a non-deterministic timing race (AC:H); impact is kernel state corruption/crash (A:H) with minor integrity risk and no clear confidentiality loss.

3.1 AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE
7.8 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Red Hat
7.0 HIGH
qualitative

Primary rating from Vendor (416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67).

CVSS VectorVendor: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

5
Analysis Generated
Aug 17, 2026 - 07:45 vuln.today
CVSS changed
Aug 17, 2026 - 06:22 NVD
9.8 (CRITICAL)
Patch available
Aug 15, 2026 - 07:20 EUVD
CVE Published
Aug 15, 2026 - 06:21 cve.org
CRITICAL 9.8
CVE Published
Aug 15, 2026 - 06:21 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

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

sunrpc: wait for in-flight TLS handshake callback when cancel loses race

When wait_for_completion_interruptible_timeout() in svc_tcp_handshake() returns 0 (timeout) or -ERESTARTSYS (signal) and tls_handshake_cancel() then returns false, handshake_complete() has won the cancellation race: it has set HANDSHAKE_F_REQ_COMPLETED and is about to invoke svc_tcp_handshake_done(), but the callback's side effects on xpt_flags and on svsk->sk_handshake_done have not yet committed.

The current code reads xpt_flags immediately to decide whether the session succeeded. Two races result.

If the callback has executed set_bit(XPT_TLS_SESSION) but not yet clear_bit(XPT_HANDSHAKE), svc_tcp_handshake() sees a session, enqueues the transport, and returns. svc_xprt_received() then clears XPT_BUSY, a worker thread picks the transport up, the dispatcher in svc_handle_xprt() observes XPT_HANDSHAKE still set, and xpo_handshake is invoked a second time. That svc_tcp_handshake() calls init_completion(&svsk->sk_handshake_done) while the original callback concurrently calls complete_all() on it, corrupting the embedded swait_queue.

If the callback has set HANDSHAKE_F_REQ_COMPLETED but not yet entered svc_tcp_handshake_done(), svc_tcp_handshake() reads XPT_TLS_SESSION as clear and tears the connection down even though the handshake is about to succeed.

Wait for the callback to commit before inspecting xpt_flags. The completion is guaranteed to fire because handshake_complete() invokes svc_tcp_handshake_done() unconditionally once it has set HANDSHAKE_F_REQ_COMPLETED.

AnalysisAI

Kernel-side race condition in the Linux SUNRPC server's TLS handshake path (svc_tcp_handshake) allows a lost cancellation race to corrupt an embedded swait_queue or prematurely tear down a succeeding handshake, leading to kernel memory corruption or connection instability on NFS/RPC servers using RPC-with-TLS. Affects servers that terminate kernel RPC TLS sessions; it is a resolved upstream kernel bug with no public exploit and a very low EPSS (0.21%, 11th percentile), and it is not in CISA KEV. Despite the NVD-propagated 9.8 rating typical of auto-generated kernel CVEs, the practical impact is a narrow timing window affecting availability/state integrity rather than turnkey remote code execution.

Technical ContextAI

The affected code is the kernel's SUNRPC server transport layer (net/sunrpc, svcsock.c) which supports RPC-with-TLS (RFC 9289) for services such as kernel NFS server. When svc_tcp_handshake() initiates a TLS handshake, it uses wait_for_completion_interruptible_timeout() and, on timeout (return 0) or signal (-ERESTARTSYS), calls tls_handshake_cancel(). If that returns false, the asynchronous handshake_complete() callback has already won the race: it has set HANDSHAKE_F_REQ_COMPLETED and will unconditionally call svc_tcp_handshake_done(), but its side effects on xpt_flags (XPT_TLS_SESSION / XPT_HANDSHAKE) and svsk->sk_handshake_done are not yet committed. Reading xpt_flags too early either causes xpo_handshake to be invoked a second time - re-running init_completion() on the completion while complete_all() runs concurrently, corrupting the embedded swait_queue - or misreads XPT_TLS_SESSION as clear and tears down a session that was about to succeed. Root cause is a classic concurrency/TOCTOU race (CWE-362, listed as N/A in the feed) with a potential use-after-free/list-corruption consequence (CWE-416); the fix waits for the callback to commit before inspecting xpt_flags.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: upgrade to a fixed stable kernel - 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, or mainline 7.2-rc1 or later, whichever matches your branch (fix commits 65b23bec, 0d8ceb39, d00e32f8, a4f878e8, e0f4691d; see https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/65b23bec1fca6e9ebdc3e6041ebf8c6ab074141b). Apply the distribution kernel update that references CVE-2026-72221 once available. If immediate patching is not possible, the most effective compensating control is to disable RPC-with-TLS on the affected server (do not configure xprtsec=tls / stop offering TLS-terminated NFS/RPC), which removes the vulnerable handshake path entirely at the cost of losing transport encryption for RPC - fall back to a network-layer tunnel (IPsec/VPN) instead. Where TLS RPC must stay enabled, restrict network access to the RPC/NFS ports (e.g. 2049 and the handshake upcall path) to trusted management networks to shrink the attacker population, accepting that this does not close the race for authorized clients.

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Important
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 Affected

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CVE-2026-72221 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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