Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2026-98074

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

bonding: do not clear curr_active_slave prematurely when releasing all slaves

When releasing all slaves during bond destruction (all == true),
__bond_release_one() unconditionally clears bond->curr_active_slave to
NULL in every iteration.

If a backup slave is released before the active slave,
bond_alb_deinit_slave() triggers rlb_teach_disabled_mac_on_primary(),
which increments the active slave dev promiscuity counter and sets
bond_info->primary_is_promisc = 1.

Because bond->curr_active_slave was prematurely cleared to NULL when
releasing the backup slave, the subsequent iteration releasing the active
slave evaluates oldcurrent as NULL, so bond_change_active_slave(bond, NULL)
is skipped. Consequently, bond_alb_handle_active_change() is never called
to decrement the promiscuity counter, permanently leaking promiscuous
mode on the physical device after bond teardown.

When oldcurrent == slave, bond_change_active_slave(bond, NULL) already sets
bond->curr_active_slave to NULL. We only need to avoid selecting a new
active slave when all == true. Replace the if (all) branch with
if (!all && oldcurrent == slave).

Published 2026-09-25 · last modified 2026-10-19.