Executive brief
A vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's QLogic Fibre Channel driver, which manages high-speed storage connections. An error in how the system handles memory during certain failures could allow an attacker to cause a system crash or potentially execute unauthorized code. This could lead to a total loss of service availability or unauthorized access to data stored on the network.
Technical details
A double free vulnerability exists in the qla2xxx driver within the Linux kernel, specifically in the qla24xx_els_dcmd_iocb() function. The root cause is an incorrect reference counting implementation where qla2x00_free_fcport() is explicitly called after kref_put() has already triggered the same cleanup via qla2x00_sp_release(). This occurs during error handling paths when an ELS (Extended Link Service) command fails. An attacker could potentially exploit this memory corruption to cause a kernel panic (DoS) or achieve escalated privileges. Patches have been released for multiple stable kernel branches including 5.15.y, 6.1.y, 6.6.y, and 6.9.y.
Affected products
- Linux Linux Kernel 5.15.154 to 5.16, 6.1.84 to 6.2, 6.6.24 to 6.7, 6.7.12 to 6.8, 6.8.3 to 6.9, 6.9.1 to 6.19.9
Timeline
- 2026-05-08: disclosed
- 2026-03-07: patched: Initial patch committed to stable tree
- 2026-05-08: advisory