CVE-2026-72085

CRITICAL CVSS 3.1: 9.3 EPSS 0.18%
Updated Aug 17, 2026
Linux
Parameter Value
CVSS 9.3 (CRITICAL)
Vendor Linux
Public PoC No

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: xen: scsiback: Free unsubmitted command instead of double-putting it scsiback_get_pend_req() obtains a command tag and returns a vscsibk_pend whose embedded se_cmd has only been memset to 0, so its cmd_kref is 0; the se_cmd is initialised (kref_init() via target_init_cmd()) only later, in scsiback_cmd_exec(), on the successful VSCSIIF_ACT_SCSI_CDB path. The two error paths in scsiback_do_cmd_fn() taken before the command is submitted -- a failed scsiback_gnttab_data_map() and an unknown ring_req.act -- call transport_generic_free_cmd(&pending_req->se_cmd, 0), which kref_put()s a refcount of 0. That underflows it ("refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free") and, as the release function is not run, leaks the command tag.

Impact: a pvSCSI guest can leak every command tag of a LUN's session, stopping the LUN, by submitting requests with a bad grant reference or an unknown request type; under panic_on_warn the refcount underflow panics the host. Add a helper that just returns the tag with target_free_tag() and sends the error response. It frees the tag while the v2p reference still pins the session, and snapshots the response fields beforehand because freeing the tag can let another ring reuse the pending_req slot.

Attack Parameters

Attack Vector
Local
Requires local access
Attack Complexity
Low
Easy to exploit
Privileges Required
None
No privileges needed
User Interaction
None
No user interaction needed

Impact Assessment

Confidentiality
High
Complete data leak
Integrity
High
Complete data modification
Availability
High
Complete denial of service

CVSS Vector v3.1