published October 18, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
bpf: Hold map BTF for the memory allocator destructor record
bpf_ma_set_dtor() duplicates map->record so that the bpf_mem_alloc
destructor can release the special fields of hash and rhash map elements
once the allocator frees them for good. btf_record_dup() only acquires
references on kernel and module BTF. Fields whose types live in the map
BTF keep pointing into it: a kptr to a local type refers to map->btf,
and a list_head or rb_root field carries a value_rec owned by the struct
meta table of map->btf.
That borrowed state can outlive the map. When RCU callbacks are still in
flight, bpf_mem_alloc_destroy() copies the allocator and defers the final
drain, together with the destructor context, to a workqueue.
bpf_map_free() then frees map->record and drops the map's BTF reference
as soon as map_free() returns. Once the program that loaded the BTF is
gone as well, the BTF is freed while the worker still uses the
duplicate. The worker dereferences it through btf_is_kernel() and
btf_find_struct_meta() in bpf_obj_free_fields() when destroying elements
that were freed under RCU, and through btf_is_kernel() in
btf_record_free() when releasing the context itself:
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in btf_is_kernel+0x19/0x30
Read of size 1 at addr ffff88811505dce8 by task kworker/u16:2/50
Workqueue: events_unbound free_mem_alloc_deferred
Call Trace:
btf_is_kernel+0x19/0x30
btf_record_free+0xc7/0xf0
htab_dtor_ctx_free+0x1a/0x30
free_mem_alloc_no_barrier+0x39/0x230
free_mem_alloc_deferred+0x2a/0x40
process_scheduled_works+0x5ce/0x9d0
worker_thread+0x42a/0x5e0
kthread+0x1f5/0x230
ret_from_fork+0x1dd/0x390
ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30
Allocated by task 358:
__kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x287/0x510
btf_new_fd+0xf7/0x3d0
__sys_bpf+0x487/0x840
Freed by task 0:
kfree+0x186/0x560
rcu_core+0x6f6/0xd40
Freeing a map that still holds more elements than the allocator's high
watermark is enough to get there, because the bulk free during teardown
queues the RCU callback that makes bpf_mem_alloc_destroy() defer.
Non-preallocated hash maps and resizable hash maps both register the
destructor and are affected alike.
Keep one reference on the map BTF in the destructor context. Every
non-kernel pointer in the duplicated record is either map->btf or memory
owned by it, so a single reference covers kptrs, list heads, and rb
roots, and mirrors what bpf_map_meta_alloc() does for the duplicated
record of an inner map. Release it only after the duplicated record has
been freed: the worker is preemptible and not in an RCU read-side
critical section, so dropping the last reference first would let the
BTF be freed while btf_record_free() still reads its fields.