Linux Kernel TLS Async Hold Queue Leak in tls_decrypt_async_wait
CVE-2026-23414 Published on April 2, 2026
tls: Purge async_hold in tls_decrypt_async_wait()
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
tls: Purge async_hold in tls_decrypt_async_wait()
The async_hold queue pins encrypted input skbs while
the AEAD engine references their scatterlist data. Once
tls_decrypt_async_wait() returns, every AEAD operation
has completed and the engine no longer references those
skbs, so they can be freed unconditionally.
A subsequent patch adds batch async decryption to
tls_sw_read_sock(), introducing a new call site that
must drain pending AEAD operations and release held
skbs. Move __skb_queue_purge(&ctx->async_hold) into
tls_decrypt_async_wait() so the purge is centralized
and every caller -- recvmsg's drain path, the -EBUSY
fallback in tls_do_decryption(), and the new read_sock
batch path -- releases held skbs on synchronization
without each site managing the purge independently.
This fixes a leak when tls_strp_msg_hold() fails part-way through,
after having added some cloned skbs to the async_hold
queue. tls_decrypt_sg() will then call tls_decrypt_async_wait() to
process all pending decrypts, and drop back to synchronous mode, but
tls_sw_recvmsg() only flushes the async_hold queue when one record has
been processed in "fully-async" mode, which may not be the case here.
[pabeni@redhat.com: added leak comment]
Products Associated with CVE-2026-23414
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Affected Versions
Linux:- Version 9f83fd0c179e0f458e824e417f9d5ad53443f685 and below ac435be7c7613eb13a5a8ceb5182e10b50c9ce87 is affected.
- Version c61d4368197d65c4809d9271f3b85325a600586a and below 2dcf324855c34e7f934ce978aa19b645a8f3ee71 is affected.
- Version 39dec4ea3daf77f684308576baf483b55ca7f160 and below 6dc11e0bd0a5466bcc76d275c09e5537bd0597dd is affected.
- Version b8a6ff84abbcbbc445463de58704686011edc8e1 and below 9f557c7eae127b44d2e863917dc986a4b6cb1269 is affected.
- Version b8a6ff84abbcbbc445463de58704686011edc8e1 and below fd8037e1f18ca5336934d0e0e7e1a4fe097e749d is affected.
- Version b8a6ff84abbcbbc445463de58704686011edc8e1 and below 84a8335d8300576f1b377ae24abca1d9f197807f is affected.
- Version 4fc109d0ab196bd943b7451276690fb6bb48c2e0 is affected.
- Version 6.18 is affected.
- Before 6.18 is unaffected.
- Version 6.1.168, <= 6.1.* is unaffected.
- Version 6.6.131, <= 6.6.* is unaffected.
- Version 6.12.80, <= 6.12.* is unaffected.
- Version 6.18.21, <= 6.18.* is unaffected.
- Version 6.19.11, <= 6.19.* is unaffected.
- Version 7.0, <= * is unaffected.
Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.