Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-74609

critical Nessus Plugin ID 339009

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- tipc: read le->link under the node lock in tipc_node_link_down() tipc_node_link_down() caches the link pointer before taking n->lock: struct tipc_link *l = le->link; /* unlocked */ if (!l) return;
tipc_node_write_lock(n); if (!tipc_link_is_establishing(l)) { /* deref l */ ... tipc_link_reset(l); /* write into l */ if (delete) { kfree(l); le->link = NULL; The delete=true caller frees that very object under n->lock, so the lock does not protect the cached pointer against it: - CPU A, delete=false:
tipc_rcv() on TIPC_LINK_DOWN_EVT, or the link supervision timer via tipc_node_timeout(), reads l unlocked and then dereferences it under n->lock; - CPU B, delete=true: netlink TIPC_NL_BEARER_DISABLE -> bearer_disable() -> tipc_node_delete_links() -> tipc_node_link_down(n, bearer_id, true) -> kfree(l). The link is freed with plain kfree(), not kfree_rcu(), and for UDP bearers disable_media() only schedules the asynchronous cleanup_bearer() work, so its synchronize_net() runs after the links are already gone. An in- flight CPU A that has read l therefore dereferences freed memory once B frees it: a use-after-free read in tipc_link_is_establishing(), and a use-after-free write via tipc_link_reset() on the establishing branch.
The following trace was captured on 7.2.0-rc5-00284-gaf39eb111ce6: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in tipc_link_is_establishing (net/tipc/link.c:285) Read of size 4 at addr ffff88802e2aa068 by task swapper/2/0 tipc_link_is_establishing (net/tipc/link.c:285) tipc_node_link_down (net/tipc/node.c:1076) tipc_node_timeout (net/tipc/node.c:843) Allocated by task 9549: tipc_link_create (net/tipc/link.c:490) tipc_node_check_dest (net/tipc/node.c:1279) tipc_disc_rcv (net/tipc/discover.c:252) tipc_udp_recv (net/tipc/udp_media.c:389) Freed by task 9549: tipc_node_link_down (net/tipc/node.c:1084) tipc_node_delete_links (net/tipc/node.c:1320) bearer_disable (net/tipc/bearer.c:414)
__tipc_nl_bearer_disable (net/tipc/bearer.c:992) Move the le->link read inside tipc_node_write_lock(), so it is serialised against the kfree() in the delete path. A racing teardown now either has not run yet, and we see a valid link, or has already run, and we see NULL. (CVE-2026-74609)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-74609

Plugin Details

Severity: Critical

ID: 339009

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_74609.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 8/22/2026

Updated: 8/22/2026

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Tenable Cloud Security, Tenable Self-Hosted Container Security, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.3

Percentile: 53.5

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 6.4

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-74609

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Critical

Base Score: 9.8

Temporal Score: 9

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:U/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:14.0, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:linux

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/cpu, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 8/22/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-74609