CVE-2026-80845: Linux

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfrm: avoid lock inversion in nat keepalive work nat_keepalive_work() walks the state table while xfrm_state_walk() holds net->xfrm.xfrm_state_lock. Its callback then acquires x->lock, which conflicts with the delete path taking the same locks in reverse order via xfrm_state_delete() and __xfrm_state_delete(). This creates an AB-BA deadlock that is reported by lockdep when a NAT keepalive worker races with SA deletion. Fix this by splitting the keepalive walk into two phases. First, collect the candidate states while the walk holds xfrm_state_lock and take a reference on each state. Then, after the walk completes, process each collected state and acquire x->lock without nesting it under xfrm_state_lock.

Affected products

• Linux Linux: from 6.11, before 6.12.108 (fixed in 6.12.108); from 6.13, before 6.18.49 (fixed in 6.18.49); from 6.19, before 7.1.13 (fixed in 7.1.13); from 7.2, before 7.2.3 (fixed in 7.2.3)

Published 2026-09-04. Last modified 2026-09-04.