---
id: CVE-2026-72469
title: 'xprtrdma: Fix ep kref imbalance on ADDR_CHANGE'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  xprtrdma: Fix ep kref imbalance on ADDR_CHANGE

  rpcrdma_cm_event_handler() falls through to the disconnected: label
  on RDMA_CM_EVENT_ADDR_CHANGE and calls rpcrdma_ep_pu…
severity: high
cvss: 8.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cvssSource: cna
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 2acc5cae292355f5f18ad377a2a966e7f03c8fec <
    cfd1bab66b042da7a778786685125656c695931b
  - >-
    Linux >= 2acc5cae292355f5f18ad377a2a966e7f03c8fec <
    d0479c2b12974aa188b10d221a5770126b118b6d
  - >-
    Linux >= 2acc5cae292355f5f18ad377a2a966e7f03c8fec <
    ffc07790539736a5d029f6a3c966b46c529f93a8
  - >-
    Linux >= 2acc5cae292355f5f18ad377a2a966e7f03c8fec <
    af9b65b29af341932625c4283dc7a23cdb62688a
  - Linux 2fcbf07a4f23174a45e015b62a8e42ddbc2e53ef
  - Linux >= 5.7.9 < 5.8
  - Linux 5.8
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-10-16T18:50:27.416569Z'
published: '2026-08-15'
updated: '2026-10-16'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-16T18:55:25.440Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72469'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cfd1bab66b042da7a778786685125656c695931b'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0479c2b12974aa188b10d221a5770126b118b6d'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ffc07790539736a5d029f6a3c966b46c529f93a8'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/af9b65b29af341932625c4283dc7a23cdb62688a'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00379
epssPercentile: 0.30331
ingestedAt: '2026-10-16T19:46:24.393Z'
---

## Overview

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

xprtrdma: Fix ep kref imbalance on ADDR_CHANGE

rpcrdma_cm_event_handler() falls through to the disconnected: label
on RDMA_CM_EVENT_ADDR_CHANGE and calls rpcrdma_ep_put() with no
matching get when the event arrives before RDMA_CM_EVENT_ESTABLISHED.
The kref then underflows during connect teardown and
rpcrdma_xprt_disconnect() operates on a freed ep.

Reference counts across a normal connection lifecycle:

    rpcrdma_ep_create()             kref_init     ->1
    rpcrdma_xprt_connect()          ep_get        ->2  (before post_recvs)
    RDMA_CM_EVENT_ESTABLISHED       ep_get        ->3
    RDMA_CM_EVENT_DISCONNECTED      ep_put        ->2
    rpcrdma_xprt_drain()            ep_put        ->1
    rpcrdma_xprt_disconnect() tail  ep_put        ->0  (ep_destroy)

The connect-time get in rpcrdma_xprt_connect(), taken just before
rpcrdma_post_recvs() "while there are outstanding Receives," is
balanced by rpcrdma_xprt_drain. ADDR_CHANGE before ESTABLISHED has
no get to consume, so its put drops the count to 1 and the drain
put then frees the ep while rpcrdma_xprt_disconnect() still holds a
pointer to it.

Fix by dispatching on the prior re_connect_status via xchg(): for
prev == 0 (pre-ESTABLISHED) wake the connect waiter and return with
no put; for prev == 1 call rpcrdma_force_disconnect() and return.
The case-1 arm relies on the subsequent RDMA_CM_EVENT_DISCONNECTED
event -- reliably delivered when rdma_disconnect() is called on a
still-connected cm_id -- to balance the ESTABLISHED get;
rpcrdma_xprt_drain() continues to balance only that connect-time
get. Any other prior value means teardown is already in flight.

## Affected

- `Linux >= 2acc5cae292355f5f18ad377a2a966e7f03c8fec < cfd1bab66b042da7a778786685125656c695931b`
- `Linux >= 2acc5cae292355f5f18ad377a2a966e7f03c8fec < d0479c2b12974aa188b10d221a5770126b118b6d`
- `Linux >= 2acc5cae292355f5f18ad377a2a966e7f03c8fec < ffc07790539736a5d029f6a3c966b46c529f93a8`
- `Linux >= 2acc5cae292355f5f18ad377a2a966e7f03c8fec < af9b65b29af341932625c4283dc7a23cdb62688a`
- `Linux 2fcbf07a4f23174a45e015b62a8e42ddbc2e53ef`
- `Linux >= 5.7.9 < 5.8`
- `Linux 5.8`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.