{"id":"CVE-2026-11742","aliases":["EUVD-2026-54681","GHSA-8xm3-4w69-29mm"],"status":"published","title":"Use-after-free race in kernel `k_queue_peek_head/tail` due to missing spinlock","description":"The kernel queue helper z_queue_node_peek() in kernel/queue.c dereferences a node taken from a queue's data_q list, reading the node's flag byte and, for items enqueued via k_queue_alloc_append/alloc_prepend, the data pointer of an internally allocated alloc_node struct. The implementations of z_impl_k_queue_peek_head() and z_impl_k_queue_peek_tail() performed this read-and-dereference without holding the queue's spinlock, while every other accessor of the same list — including k_queue_get(), which unlinks a node and k_free()s its backing alloc_node — operates under that lock.\n\nBecause peek was unsynchronized, a concurrent k_queue_get() on the same queue (on an SMP build, or under preemption/ISR concurrency) can free the node between the moment peek obtains the node pointer and the moment it dereferences it. The peek then reads flag bits and a data pointer out of freed, potentially re-allocated heap memory and returns a stale or dangling pointer to its caller. k_fifo and k_lifo are thin wrappers over k_queue, so this affects buffer queues used throughout the net_buf, Bluetooth, USB, and networking subsystems; the peek operations are also system calls reachable from CONFIG_USERSPACE threads.\n\nThe consequences are a use-after-free read that can leak stale heap contents (one pointer word) and, when the returned dangling pointer is subsequently consumed as a live buffer, a dereference that can crash the system or corrupt memory. Exploitation requires winning a small race window with local access (e.g. a userspace process racing k_queue_peek_* against k_queue_get on a shared queue, or two CPUs), so practical impact is bounded and of low severity.\n\nThe fix wraps both peek implementations with k_spin_lock/k_spin_unlock on the queue lock, making the read-and-dereference atomic with respect to the concurrent unlink-and-free and bringing peek into line with the rest of the queue's locking discipline.","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":3.6,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L","level":"low","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-10","score":0.00127,"percentile":0.0242,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":false},"cwes":["CWE-416"],"published":"2026-08-07T21:10:23Z","modified":"2026-11-04T04:59:10Z","products":[{"vendor":"zephyrproject","product":"zephyr"},{"vendor":"zephyrproject-rtos","product":"zephyr"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/commit/a6b6149a50cb0f64061869f7536acbf80ccc5e0c","tags":["patch","fix"]},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/security/advisories/GHSA-8xm3-4w69-29mm","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/11xxx/CVE-2026-11742.json","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-11742","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr","tags":["package"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2026-11742","title":"Use-after-free race in kernel `k_queue_peek_head/tail` due to missing spinlock","description":"The kernel queue helper z_queue_node_peek() in kernel/queue.c dereferences a node taken from a queue's data_q list, reading the node's flag byte and, for items enqueued via k_queue_alloc_append/alloc_prepend, the data pointer of an internally allocated alloc_node struct. The implementations of z_impl_k_queue_peek_head() and z_impl_k_queue_peek_tail() performed this read-and-dereference without holding the queue's spinlock, while every other accessor of the same list — including k_queue_get(), which unlinks a node and k_free()s its backing alloc_node — operates under that lock.\n\nBecause peek was unsynchronized, a concurrent k_queue_get() on the same queue (on an SMP build, or under preemption/ISR concurrency) can free the node between the moment peek obtains the node pointer and the moment it dereferences it. The peek then reads flag bits and a data pointer out of freed, potentially re-allocated heap memory and returns a stale or dangling pointer to its caller. k_fifo and k_lifo are thin wrappers over k_queue, so this affects buffer queues used throughout the net_buf, Bluetooth, USB, and networking subsystems; the peek operations are also system calls reachable from CONFIG_USERSPACE threads.\n\nThe consequences are a use-after-free read that can leak stale heap contents (one pointer word) and, when the returned dangling pointer is subsequently consumed as a live buffer, a dereference that can crash the system or corrupt memory. Exploitation requires winning a small race window with local access (e.g. a userspace process racing k_queue_peek_* against k_queue_get on a shared queue, or two CPUs), so practical impact is bounded and of low severity.\n\nThe fix wraps both peek implementations with k_spin_lock/k_spin_unlock on the queue lock, making the read-and-dereference atomic with respect to the concurrent unlink-and-free and bringing peek into line with the rest of the queue's locking discipline.","status":"published","published":"2026-08-07T21:10:23.002Z","modified":"2026-11-04T04:59:10.924Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":3.6,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L","level":"low","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-416"],"updated_at":"2026-11-04T05:21:48.223566Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2026-54681","description":"The kernel queue helper z_queue_node_peek() in kernel/queue.c dereferences a node taken from a queue's data_q list, reading the node's flag byte and, for items enqueued via k_queue_alloc_append/alloc_prepend, the data pointer of an internally allocated alloc_node struct. The implementations of z_impl_k_queue_peek_head() and z_impl_k_queue_peek_tail() performed this read-and-dereference without holding the queue's spinlock, while every other accessor of the same list — including k_queue_get(), which unlinks a node and k_free()s its backing alloc_node — operates under that lock.\n\nBecause peek was unsynchronized, a concurrent k_queue_get() on the same queue (on an SMP build, or under preemption/ISR concurrency) can free the node between the moment peek obtains the node pointer and the moment it dereferences it. The peek then reads flag bits and a data pointer out of freed, potentially re-allocated heap memory and returns a stale or dangling pointer to its caller. k_fifo and k_lifo are thin wrappers over k_queue, so this affects buffer queues used throughout the net_buf, Bluetooth, USB, and networking subsystems; the peek operations are also system calls reachable from CONFIG_USERSPACE threads.\n\nThe consequences are a use-after-free read that can leak stale heap contents (one pointer word) and, when the returned dangling pointer is subsequently consumed as a live buffer, a dereference that can crash the system or corrupt memory. Exploitation requires winning a small race window with local access (e.g. a userspace process racing k_queue_peek_* against k_queue_get on a shared queue, or two CPUs), so practical impact is bounded and of low severity.\n\nThe fix wraps both peek implementations with k_spin_lock/k_spin_unlock on the queue lock, making the read-and-dereference atomic with respect to the concurrent unlink-and-free and bringing peek into line with the rest of the queue's locking discipline.","status":"published","published":"2026-08-07T21:10:23Z","modified":"2026-11-04T04:59:10Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":3.6,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L","level":"low"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-04T07:00:56.720215Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2026-11742","description":"The kernel queue helper z_queue_node_peek() in kernel/queue.c dereferences a node taken from a queue's data_q list, reading the node's flag byte and, for items enqueued via k_queue_alloc_append/alloc_prepend, the data pointer of an internally allocated alloc_node struct. The implementations of z_impl_k_queue_peek_head() and z_impl_k_queue_peek_tail() performed this read-and-dereference without holding the queue's spinlock, while every other accessor of the same list — including k_queue_get(), which unlinks a node and k_free()s its backing alloc_node — operates under that lock.\n\nBecause peek was unsynchronized, a concurrent k_queue_get() on the same queue (on an SMP build, or under preemption/ISR concurrency) can free the node between the moment peek obtains the node pointer and the moment it dereferences it. The peek then reads flag bits and a data pointer out of freed, potentially re-allocated heap memory and returns a stale or dangling pointer to its caller. k_fifo and k_lifo are thin wrappers over k_queue, so this affects buffer queues used throughout the net_buf, Bluetooth, USB, and networking subsystems; the peek operations are also system calls reachable from CONFIG_USERSPACE threads.\n\nThe consequences are a use-after-free read that can leak stale heap contents (one pointer word) and, when the returned dangling pointer is subsequently consumed as a live buffer, a dereference that can crash the system or corrupt memory. Exploitation requires winning a small race window with local access (e.g. a userspace process racing k_queue_peek_* against k_queue_get on a shared queue, or two CPUs), so practical impact is bounded and of low severity.\n\nThe fix wraps both peek implementations with k_spin_lock/k_spin_unlock on the queue lock, making the read-and-dereference atomic with respect to the concurrent unlink-and-free and bringing peek into line with the rest of the queue's locking discipline.","status":"published","published":"2026-08-07T22:16:57.18Z","modified":"2026-11-04T05:18:29.6Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":3.6,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L","level":"low","assessor":"secondary"}],"cwes":["CWE-416"],"updated_at":"2026-11-04T06:53:18.101176Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2026-11742","title":"Use-after-free race in kernel `k_queue_peek_head/tail` due to missing spinlock","description":"The kernel queue helper z_queue_node_peek() in kernel/queue.c dereferences a node taken from a queue's data_q list, reading the node's flag byte and, for items enqueued via k_queue_alloc_append/alloc_prepend, the data pointer of an internally allocated alloc_node struct. The implementations of z_impl_k_queue_peek_head() and z_impl_k_queue_peek_tail() performed this read-and-dereference without holding the queue's spinlock, while every other accessor of the same list — including k_queue_get(), which unlinks a node and k_free()s its backing alloc_node — operates under that lock.\n\nBecause peek was unsynchronized, a concurrent k_queue_get() on the same queue (on an SMP build, or under preemption/ISR concurrency) can free the node between the moment peek obtains the node pointer and the moment it dereferences it. The peek then reads flag bits and a data pointer out of freed, potentially re-allocated heap memory and returns a stale or dangling pointer to its caller. k_fifo and k_lifo are thin wrappers over k_queue, so this affects buffer queues used throughout the net_buf, Bluetooth, USB, and networking subsystems; the peek operations are also system calls reachable from CONFIG_USERSPACE threads.\n\nThe consequences are a use-after-free read that can leak stale heap contents (one pointer word) and, when the returned dangling pointer is subsequently consumed as a live buffer, a dereference that can crash the system or corrupt memory. Exploitation requires winning a small race window with local access (e.g. a userspace process racing k_queue_peek_* against k_queue_get on a shared queue, or two CPUs), so practical impact is bounded and of low severity.\n\nThe fix wraps both peek implementations with k_spin_lock/k_spin_unlock on the queue lock, making the read-and-dereference atomic with respect to the concurrent unlink-and-free and bringing peek into line with the rest of the queue's locking discipline.","status":"published","published":"2026-08-07T21:10:23.002Z","modified":"2026-11-05T08:04:58.028882288Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":3.6,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L","level":"low"}],"cwes":["CWE-416"],"updated_at":"2026-11-05T09:08:14.330889Z"}]}}