modules: add bad_epoll (CVE-2026-46242, "Bad Epoll" epoll teardown race UAF)
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Jaeyoung Chung's kernelCTF "Bad Epoll": a race-condition use-after-free in fs/eventpoll.c. ep_remove() clears file->f_ep under f_lock but keeps using the file (hlist_del_rcu + unlock) while a concurrent __fput() frees the still-referenced struct eventpoll. Reachable by any unprivileged user with no userns / CONFIG / capability; weaponised via cross-cache to a struct file, /proc/self/fdinfo arb-read, and ROP. Introduced 58c9b016e128 (6.4), fixed a6dc643c6931 (7.1-rc1), stable backport 7.0.13. CWE-416; not in KEV. The corpus's first epoll / VFS-teardown module. Shipped as a reconstructed, deliberately under-driven trigger on the stackrot / nft_catchall contract: detect() is a pure version gate (>= 6.4 and below the on-branch fix; no userns precondition -- epoll needs none); exploit() forks a CPU-pinned child that exercises the ep_remove-vs-__fput close window a hard-bounded 48 attempts / 2s and returns EXPLOIT_FAIL. It does not grind the race to a win, does not do the cross-cache reclaim, and does not bundle the fdinfo R/W + ROP (a won race frees a live struct file and rarely trips KASAN -> silent-corruption risk). Wired: registry, Makefile, safety rank (12 -- lowest in the corpus; a kernel race is the least predictable class), 5 detect() test rows (version gating), CVE metadata (sorted insert, CWE-416 / T1068 / not-KEV), README + CVES.md + website counts (44/39), RELEASE_NOTES v0.9.12, and a verify-vm target (sweep pending). Detection rules are intentionally weak/structural (epoll ubiquitous, rarely KASAN) -- post-exploitation euid-0 transition, no yara. Also corrects pre-existing README drift in the "not yet verified" count (8 -> 11). Not VM-verified, so the verified count stays 28 of 39. Version 0.9.12. Credit: Jaeyoung Chung (J-jaeyoung). Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01KUq4DGXSPBmPkAyJ9WnM9n
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# bad_epoll — CVE-2026-46242
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"Bad Epoll" — a race-condition use-after-free in the Linux kernel epoll
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subsystem (`fs/eventpoll.c`) reachable by **any unprivileged local user**.
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No user namespace, no capability, no special `CONFIG` — `epoll_create1(2)`,
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`epoll_ctl(2)`, and `close(2)` are available to everyone, which is what
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makes this bug unusually dangerous.
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## The bug
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On the file-teardown path, `ep_remove()` clears `file->f_ep` under
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`file->f_lock` but keeps **using** the file inside the same critical
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section — the `hlist_del_rcu()` walk over the eventpoll's `refs` list and
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the trailing `spin_unlock()`. A concurrent `__fput()` of a linked epoll
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file can observe the transient `NULL` `f_ep`, skip
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`eventpoll_release_file()`, and jump straight to `f_op->release`, freeing
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a `struct eventpoll` that the first path is still walking →
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**use-after-free** on a live kernel object.
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The public exploit (Jaeyoung Chung, submitted to Google's kernelCTF)
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arranges four epoll objects in two pairs — one pair drives the race, the
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other is the victim — and converts the 8-byte UAF write into control of a
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`struct file` via a **cross-cache** attack (the freed `eventpoll` slab
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page is drained to the buddy allocator and reclaimed as pipe backing
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buffers). From there it reads arbitrary kernel memory through
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`/proc/self/fdinfo` and ROPs to a root shell. Roughly **99% reliable**
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despite a race window only ~6 instructions wide; the racer widens it with
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`close(dup())` storms that induce false-sharing on the file's `f_count`
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cache line. It **rarely trips KASAN**, which is why the bug survived three
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years and why it is hard to detect at runtime.
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## Affected range
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| | |
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|---|---|
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| Vulnerable path introduced | commit `58c9b016e128` — Linux **6.4** (2023-04-08) |
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| Fixed upstream | commit `a6dc643c69311677c574a0f17a3f4d66a5f3744b` — merged for **7.1-rc1** (2026-04-24) |
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| Stable backport | **7.0.13** (Debian forky `7.0.13-1` / sid `7.0.14-1`) |
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| Still vulnerable at time of writing | trixie **6.12.x** (no backport yet); 6.6 LTS pending |
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| Not affected | 6.1 and older (predate the bug — Debian: "vulnerable code not present") |
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| NVD class | CWE-416 (Use After Free) via CWE-362 (race) |
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| CISA KEV | no (brand new) |
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Table threshold is a single `{7,0,13}` entry — `kernel_range_is_patched()`
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treats 7.1+ as patched-via-mainline and everything in `[6.4, 7.0.13)` as
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vulnerable, matching the Debian tracker. Add 6.6.x / 6.12.x rows when
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those LTS backports land (`tools/refresh-kernel-ranges.py` flags them).
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## Trigger / detection
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`detect()` is a **pure version gate** — no active probe, because there is
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no cheap, safe way to distinguish a vulnerable kernel from a patched one
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without actually winning the race (the dangerous part). It returns `OK`
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below 6.4 or on a patched kernel, and `VULNERABLE` in range. There is **no
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`PRECOND_FAIL` userns path** the way `nft_catchall` has — epoll needs no
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namespace, so there is no unprivileged-userns stopgap to report or to
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harden with.
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`exploit()` forks a CPU-pinned child that builds the epoll race pair (a
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waiter eventpoll watching a target eventpoll) and exercises the
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`ep_remove`-vs-`__fput` concurrent-close window a **hard-bounded** number
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of times (48 attempts / 2 s), widening it with `close(dup())`
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false-sharing storms, snapshots the `eventpoll`/`kmalloc-192` slab, and
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returns `EXPLOIT_FAIL`.
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It is **deliberately under-driven**. A *won* race frees a live
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`struct eventpoll` — genuine kernel memory corruption that rarely trips
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KASAN, so on a vulnerable production host a completed race can silently
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destabilise the box rather than cleanly oops. This module therefore does
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**not** grind the race to a win, does **not** perform the cross-cache
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reclaim, and does **not** bundle the per-kernel `fdinfo` arbitrary-read +
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ROP that lands root (per-build offsets refused). The trigger is
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**reconstructed from the public kernelCTF PoC and is not VM-verified**. It
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never claims root it did not get.
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Because a kernel race is the least predictable class in the corpus — and
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this one can corrupt memory invisibly — `bad_epoll` carries the **lowest
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`--auto` safety rank** (see `module_safety_rank()` in `skeletonkey.c`), so
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`--auto` only ever reaches for it after every safer vulnerable module.
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## Detection is hard — read this before shipping the rules
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Unlike most modules, `bad_epoll` has **no high-fidelity signature**.
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`epoll_create1` / `epoll_ctl` / `close` is the steady-state behaviour of
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nginx, systemd, and every language runtime's event loop; the exploit
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looks identical and rarely trips KASAN. The shipped auditd/sigma/falco
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rules therefore key on the **post-exploitation** tell — an unprivileged
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process transitioning to euid 0 without a setuid `execve` — plus a
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recommendation to monitor kernel logs for oops/BUG lines. Expect false
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positives from legitimate privilege-management daemons and tune per
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environment. There is no yara rule (no file artifact). Treat this module
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as much as a *blue-team teaching case* — "here is a root LPE your existing
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stack is nearly blind to" — as an offensive one.
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## Fix / mitigation
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Upgrade the kernel (>= 7.0.13, or 7.1+). There is **no partial
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mitigation**: epoll cannot be disabled in practice, and no
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`unprivileged_userns_clone` / sysctl toggle closes this path the way it
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does for the netfilter bugs. `mitigate()` is `NULL` for that reason.
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## Credit
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Discovery, exploitation, and the public kernelCTF PoC:
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**Jaeyoung Chung** (`J-jaeyoung`). Upstream fix `a6dc643c6931`. See
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`NOTICE.md`.
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