CVE-2026-52973
HIGH 7.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: futex: Drop CLONE_THREAD requirement for private default hash alloc Currently need_futex_hash_allocate_default() depends on strict pthread semantics, abusing CLONE_THREAD. This breaks the non-concurrency assumptions when doing the mm->futex_ref pcpu allocations, leading to bugs[0] when sharing the mm in other ways; ie: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in futex_hash_put ... where the +1 bias can end up on a percpu counter that mm->futex_ref no longer points at. Loosen the check to cover any CLONE_VM clone, except vfork(). Excluding vfork keeps the existing paths untouched (no overhead), and we can't race in the first place: either the parent is suspended and the child runs alone, or mm->futex_ref is already allocated from an earlier CLONE_VM.
Severe if exploited (CVSS 7.8), but no known exploitation and low modeled probability. Patch on a normal cadence.
Exploitation likelihood
0.1%chance of exploitation in 30 days · 3rd percentile
Impact if exploited
7.8CVSS 3.1 · HIGH
- ConfidentialityHigh
- IntegrityHigh
- AvailabilityHigh
What an attacker needs
- ⚠Access: Requires local access to the host
- ⚠Privileges: Requires a low-privilege account
- ✓User interaction: No user interaction needed
- ✓Complexity: No special conditions — reliably repeatable
✓ lowers the bar for an attacker · ⚠ raises it
Affected
Products Linux Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Weakness (CWE)
- CWE-825
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
Technical & other
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1dcd36420af2da5bd59306dba9caf78e3d248b1d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/974ac49a9a068b0591a59f65c63eb06579a13091
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee9dce44362b2d8132c32964656ab6dff7dfbc6a
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-52973
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2492413
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-52973.json