Copyright © 2012 Red Hat, Inc. All rights reserved. Low 2026-08-22T00:00:00 kernel: ring-buffer: Use current_context for safe per-CPU buffer swap 5.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H CWE-367

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ring-buffer: Use current_context for safe per-CPU buffer swap The ring_buffer_swap_cpu() function currently checks the per-CPU committing counter to determine if a buffer is actively being written to before performing the swap. However, there exists a race window where this check can be bypassed: ring_buffer_lock_reserve cpu_buffer = buffer->buffers[cpu]; // cpu_buffer_a rb_reserve_next_event rb_start_commit // inc committing if (unlikely(READ_ONCE(cpu_buffer->buffer) != buffer)) {...} __rb_reserve_next rb_move_tail rb_end_commit(cpu_buffer); // dec committing => 0 /* interrupt hits here, successfully swaps! */ local_inc(&cpu_buffer->committing); ring_buffer_unlock_commit cpu_buffer = buffer->buffers[cpu]; // cpu_buffer_b rb_commit rb_end_commit RB_WARN_ON(cpu_buffer, !local_read(&cpu_buffer->committing)) // triggers warning The committing counter can temporarily drop to 0 during a single write operation (within rb_move_tail), creating a window where swap can succeed even though the write is still in progress. This leads to inconsistent buffer state and triggers the RB_WARN_ON in rb_commit(). Replace the committing counter check with current_context checks, which are set at the entry of ring_buffer_lock_reserve() and remain valid throughout the entire write operation, providing a reliable indicator of buffer busy state during swap.

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's ring-buffer component. A race condition exists within the `ring_buffer_swap_cpu()` function, where a committing counter can temporarily drop to zero during a write operation. This allows a buffer swap to occur while a write is still in progress, resulting in an inconsistent buffer state. This inconsistency can lead to system instability and a denial of service.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Fix deferred kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Not affected kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Not affected kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Not affected kernel-rt Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Fix deferred kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Fix deferred kernel-rt Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Fix deferred kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Fix deferred kernel-rt https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74601 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74601 https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026082215-CVE-2026-74601-7bba@gregkh/T