High · published August 15, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
bpf: Fix effective prog array index with BPF_F_PREORDER
replace_effective_prog() and purge_effective_progs() located the slot in
the effective array by walking the program hlist and counting entries
linearly. That count does not match the array layout: compute_effective_
progs() places BPF_F_PREORDER programs at the front (ancestor cgroup
first, attach order within a cgroup) and the rest after them (descendant
cgroup first). So when a preorder program is present, the linear hlist
position no longer equals the program's index in the effective array.
For replace_effective_prog() (bpf_link_update()) this overwrote the
wrong slot, corrupting the effective order. For purge_effective_progs(),
it could dummy out a slot belonging to a different program and leave the
detached program in the array while bpf_prog_put() drops its reference,
i.e. a use-after-free.
Fix both by replaying compute_effective_progs()'s placement (including
the per-cgroup preorder reversal) in a shared effective_prog_pos()
helper. Identify the entry by its struct bpf_prog_list pointer rather
than by (prog, link) value, so the lookup resolves to exactly the
attachment the syscall selected even when the same bpf_prog is attached
to several cgroups in the hierarchy.