---
id: CVE-2026-90002
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  ftrace: Take trace_array reference before accessing its ftrace_ops

  The trace instance files set_ftrace_filter and set_ftrace_notrace was
  updated to work with specific …
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  ftrace: Take trace_array reference before accessing its ftrace_ops

  The trace instance files set_ftrace_filter and set_ftrace_notrace was
  updated to work with specific …
severity: high
cvss: 7.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 591dffdade9f07692a7dd3ed16830ec24e901ece <
    83fd7eca5ab0d3ac3f23bff889175d847e21af06
  - >-
    Linux >= 591dffdade9f07692a7dd3ed16830ec24e901ece <
    cee8f286794df916553d8d445eac5c323ec5b0f8
  - >-
    Linux >= 591dffdade9f07692a7dd3ed16830ec24e901ece <
    9100191e5acb2e5ea2313f436667bb5fce129f47
  - Linux 3.15
published: '2026-09-16'
updated: '2026-09-16'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-16T15:18:24.020'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90002'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83fd7eca5ab0d3ac3f23bff889175d847e21af06'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9100191e5acb2e5ea2313f436667bb5fce129f47'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cee8f286794df916553d8d445eac5c323ec5b0f8'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-09-16T10:53:53.945Z'
epss: 0.00157
epssPercentile: 0.05286
---

## Overview

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

ftrace: Take trace_array reference before accessing its ftrace_ops

The trace instance files set_ftrace_filter and set_ftrace_notrace was
updated to work with specific trace instances (trace_arrays). The issue is
that when these files are opened, there is a small race window where it
will use the ftrace_ops from the inode->private pointer to get a reference
to the trace_array and then take its reference. The problem is that the
ftrace_ops itself could be freed. If the rmdir on the instance happens at
the same time the set_ftrace_filter file is opened, the rmdir could have
also freed the ftrace_ops and referencing it will cause a use-after-free
bug and crash the kernel.

Instead, pass in the trace_array as the file private data (NULL for the
top level instance), and then pass both the trace_array and the ftrace_ops
to the ftrace_regex_open() function. If the trace_array is NULL, then it
just uses the ftrace_ops without the need to take its reference (like
normal). If the ftrace_ops is NULL, that is only the case for the top
level instance and the global_ops can be used.

This allows the trace_array to have its reference incremented before
touching the ftrace_ops that could also be freed when the instance is.

## Remediation

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