CVE-2026-90099

Source
https://cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-90099
Import Source
https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-90099.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/CVE-2026-90099
Downstream
Published
2026-09-17T16:06:10Z
Modified
2026-09-18T03:48:35Z
Summary
net/sched: account classifier filter allocations to memcg
Details

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

net/sched: account classifier filter allocations to memcg

Allocations in the tc classifier *_change() paths (filter objects, per-CPU counters, and per-filter aux data) use plain GFP_KERNEL without __GFP_ACCOUNT, allowing unprivileged users to pin kernel memory outside memcg charging. The shared tcf_exts_init_ex() action array allocation in cls_api.c was also uncharged; this patch closes it along with the per-classifier filter-object/percpu/aux allocations that remain unaccounted.

Add GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT to:

  • the shared tcf_exts_init_ex() action array (cls_api.c), common to every filter of every classifier (32 pointers, 256 bytes);
  • the filter-object, per-CPU-counter, and per-filter aux allocations in cls_basic, cls_bpf, cls_cgroup, cls_flow, cls_flower, cls_fw, cls_matchall, cls_route and cls_u32;
  • the u32_init_knode() replace-path knode allocation (cls_u32.c), which allocates the same struct tc_u_knode + sel.keys on every replace of an existing knode and was missed by the create-path-only conversion.

Also fix the cls_basic error path: basic_change() inserts fnew into the IDR before allocating the per-CPU counter. If alloc_percpu() fails the errout path kfree'd fnew without idr_remove, leaving a dangling pointer in the IDR. With GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT the percpu alloc becomes failable on demand (memcg at memory.max), making the dead path attacker-reachable and burning the handle permanently. Add the idr_remove on the percpu failure path, matching the basic_set_parms failure-path pattern.

Note: vega@nebusec.ai provided a poc for basic_cls, but it was easy to extend to the other classifiers.

Conditions to recreate the bug:

  • CONFIG_NET_SCHED, CONFIG_NET_CLS_* (the classifier being used), CONFIG_NET_CLS_ACT, CONFIG_MEMCG, CONFIG_USER_NS, CONFIG_NET_NS.
  • Unprivileged user in a fresh user+network namespace (unshare -Urn), or root with CAP_NET_ADMIN.
  • Create a large number of tc filters (e.g. tc filter add dev lo ingress ... ...) while watching a memcg-limited cgroup: system slab grows far faster than memory.current, pinning kernel memory outside memcg charging.
Database specific
{
    "cna_assigner": "Linux",
    "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/90xxx/CVE-2026-90099.json"
}
References

Affected packages

Git / git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git

Affected ranges

Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
0da974f4f303a6842516b764507e3c0a03f41e5a
Fixed
18c68c8f3d3ff0a4def1391021b439c4333a6c71
Fixed
1beb81947eb486716af80db7a584f9e9fef7e003

Database specific

source
"https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-90099.json"

Linux / Kernel

Package

Name
Kernel

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
2.6.18
Fixed
7.2.6

Database specific

source
"https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-90099.json"