CVE-2026-31579

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wireguard: device: use exit_rtnl callback instead of manual rtnl_lock in pre_exit wg_netns_pre_exit() manually acquires rtnl_lock() inside the pernet .pre_exit callback. This causes a hung task when another thread holds rtnl_mutex - the cleanup_net workqueue (or the setup_net failure rollback path) blocks indefinitely in wg_netns_pre_exit() waiting to acquire the lock. Convert to .exit_rtnl, introduced in commit 7a60d91c690b ("net: Add ->exit_rtnl() hook to struct pernet_operations."), where the framework already holds RTNL and batches all callbacks under a single rtnl_lock()/rtnl_unlock() pair, eliminating the contention window. The rcu_assign_pointer(wg->creating_net, NULL) is safe to move from .pre_exit to .exit_rtnl (which runs after synchronize_rcu()) because all RCU readers of creating_net either use maybe_get_net() - which returns NULL for a dying namespace with zero refcount - or access net->user_ns which remains valid throughout the entire ops_undo_list sequence. [ Jason: added __net_exit and __read_mostly annotations that were missing. ]

CVSS v3.1 Score

5.5

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0001

Probability of exploitation

0.02%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-476 CWE-476

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
linux	linux_kernel	< 6.18.24
linux	linux_kernel	6.19 — 6.19.14
linux	linux_kernel	7.0 — 7.0.1

References

Advisories & Patches

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c52ef00e391144334f10995985c2f256d4be982 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/60a25ef8dacb3566b1a8c4de00572a498e2a3bf9 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9a9e69155b2091b8297afaf1533b8d68a3096841 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a1d0f6cbb962af29586e3e65a4bced1a5e39221f

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-31579? +

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wireguard: device: use exit_rtnl callback instead of manual rtnl_lock in pre_exit wg_netns_pre_exit() manually acquires rtnl_lock() inside the pernet .pre_exit callback. This causes a hung task when another thread holds rtnl_mutex - the cleanup_net workqueue (or the setup_net failure rollback path) blocks indefinitely in wg_netns_pre_exit() waiting to acquire the lock. Convert to .exit_rtnl, introduced in commit 7a60d91c690b ("net: Add ->exit_rtnl() hook to struct pernet_operations."), where the framework already holds RTNL and batches all callbacks under a single rtnl_lock()/rtnl_unlock() pair, eliminating the contention window. The rcu_assign_pointer(wg->creating_net, NULL) is safe to move from .pre_exit to .exit_rtnl (which runs after synchronize_rcu()) because all RCU readers of creating_net either use maybe_get_net() - which returns NULL for a dying namespace with zero refcount - or access net->user_ns which remains valid throughout the entire ops_undo_list sequence. [ Jason: added __net_exit and __read_mostly annotations that were missing. ] It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2026-31579? +

CVE-2026-31579 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance. The EPSS score is 0.0001, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

What products are affected by CVE-2026-31579? +

CVE-2026-31579 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-31579? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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