---
id: CVE-2026-80979
title: >-
  kernel: net/smc: unregister the connection before draining the rx tasklet
  (CVE-2026-80979)
summary: >-
  A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Shared Memory Communications (SMC)
  component. During connection termination, the SMC component may fail to
  properly unregister a connection before draining its receive tasklet. This can
  lead to a use-…
severity: high
cvss: 7
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cvssSource: vendor
cwe: CWE-825
vendor: Red Hat
product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
affected:
  - enterprise_linux 10
  - enterprise_linux 9
  - openshift_container_platform 4
published: '2026-09-11'
updated: '2026-09-14'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-14T19:08:31+00:00'
source: CSAF
sourceUrl: 'https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-80979.json'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-80979.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-80979'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2532177'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-80979'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-80979'
  - url: >-
      https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-80979.mbox
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b6b6ac713ee82b340a8e3be30b101bd2840deec4'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b4d540ac95cd35c6ebab6afb7eae2bcac7b277a5'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5bd8b764a610b6b6bc0c4d3d01652747f6e0b5c3'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b74d313567dfc1b7e56629ddbad04e728686f235'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36cdf5d48ca191dcd71c28cadbe0981b1d25318d'
tags:
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00128
epssPercentile: 0.02853
scores:
  vendor: 7
  cna: 7.8
ingestedAt: '2026-09-14T15:23:07.455Z'
---

## Overview

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Shared Memory Communications (SMC) component. During connection termination, the SMC component may fail to properly unregister a connection before draining its receive tasklet. This can lead to a use-after-free vulnerability, where a freed memory buffer is subsequently dereferenced. A local attacker could potentially exploit this to cause a system crash, resulting in a denial of service, or potentially achieve arbitrary code execution.

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · updated 2026-09-14 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-80979.json)

**kernel: net/smc: unregister the connection before draining the rx tasklet** — rated Moderate by Red Hat. Released 2026-09-11, updated 2026-09-14.

Affected:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

No fix planned:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

Not affected:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

## Remediation

Affected