CVE-2026-80777
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. A race condition exists in the futex/pi component during the exec() system call. This vulnerability occurs because the memory management (mm) check is incorrect when a task's memory is being swapped out and freed, while still being referenced by private futexes. This can lead to the system attempting to access freed memory, potentially resulting in memory corruption or system instability.
Statement
A race in futex PI handling during exec can expose an inconsistent private futex owner state. The owner task completes robust list cleanup and can be treated as FUTEX_STATE_OK while it still points to the old mm that is about to be replaced and later freed. A concurrent waiter can pass the private futex mm check and attach PI state to an mm context that is no longer stable, making this a use-after-free candidate rather than a simple warning. For the CVSS the PR:L is used because an unprivileged local process can reach futex and exec paths, although reliable triggering depends on winning a narrow race window. The issue is not network reachable. Impact is at least local denial of service via kernel crash and in the paranoid interpretation may allow confidentiality and integrity impact due to UAF style memory corruption, so it should be reviewed manually.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 4.7 | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | N/A |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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