CVE-2026-53197

xfrm: iptfs: fix ABBA deadlock in iptfs_destroy_state()

published June 25, 2026

CVSS
—
EPSS
0%
Percentile
0.5
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

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

xfrm: iptfs: fix ABBA deadlock in iptfs_destroy_state()

iptfs_destroy_state() calls hrtimer_cancel() while holding a spinlock

that the timer callback also acquires, leading to an ABBA deadlock on

SMP systems.

For the output timer (iptfs_timer):

- iptfs_destroy_state() holds x->lock, calls hrtimer_cancel()

- iptfs_delay_timer() callback takes x->lock

For the drop timer (drop_timer):

- iptfs_destroy_state() holds drop_lock, calls hrtimer_cancel()

- iptfs_drop_timer() callback takes drop_lock

Both timers use HRTIMER_MODE_REL_SOFT, so their callbacks run in softirq

context. When hrtimer_cancel() is called for a soft timer that is

currently executing on another CPU, hrtimer_cancel_wait_running() spins

on softirq_expiry_lock -- the same lock held by the softirq running the

callback. If the callback is blocked waiting for the spinlock held by

the caller of hrtimer_cancel(), a circular dependency forms:

CPU 0: holds lock_A -> waits for softirq_expiry_lock

CPU 1: holds softirq_expiry_lock -> waits for lock_A

Fix by calling hrtimer_cancel() before acquiring the respective locks.

hrtimer_cancel() is safe to call without holding any lock and will wait

for any in-progress callback to complete. For the output timer, the

lock is still acquired afterwards to drain the packet queue. For the

drop timer, the lock/unlock pair is removed entirely since it only

existed to serialize with the timer callback, which hrtimer_cancel()

already guarantees.

Found by source code audit.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS
Not scored
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00093 · 0.5th percentile
Published
2026-06-25T08:39Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 25 JUN 08:39Z
    xfrm: iptfs: fix ABBA deadlock in iptfs_destroy_state()
    cvelistv5