CVE-2026-23127

perf: Fix refcount warning on event->mmap_count increment

published February 14, 2026

CVSS
—
EPSS
0%
Percentile
1.6
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

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

perf: Fix refcount warning on event->mmap_count increment

When calling refcount_inc(&event->mmap_count) inside perf_mmap_rb(), the

following warning is triggered:

refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free.

WARNING: lib/refcount.c:25

PoC:

struct perf_event_attr attr = {0};

int fd = syscall(__NR_perf_event_open, &attr, 0, -1, -1, 0);

mmap(NULL, 0x3000, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0);

int victim = syscall(__NR_perf_event_open, &attr, 0, -1, fd,

PERF_FLAG_FD_OUTPUT);

mmap(NULL, 0x3000, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, victim, 0);

This occurs when creating a group member event with the flag

PERF_FLAG_FD_OUTPUT. The group leader should be mmap-ed and then mmap-ing

the event triggers the warning.

Since the event has copied the output_event in perf_event_set_output(),

event->rb is set. As a result, perf_mmap_rb() calls

refcount_inc(&event->mmap_count) when event->mmap_count = 0.

Disallow the case when event->mmap_count = 0. This also prevents two

events from updating the same user_page.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS
Not scored
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00117 · 1.6th percentile
Published
2026-02-14T15:09Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 14 FEB 15:09Z
    perf: Fix refcount warning on event->mmap_count increment
    cvelistv5