CVE-2026-72069

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. The rt_spin_unlock() function, and similar real-time (RT) locking mechanisms, incorrectly release Read-Copy-Update (RCU) protection before fully unlocking, leading to a Use-After-Free (UAF) vulnerability. This issue could allow a local attacker to potentially cause a denial of service or achieve privilege escalation.

This vulnerability is rated as Moderate impact for Red Hat Enterprise Linux because exploitation is confined to local authenticated access and relies on winning a narrow race condition to achieve memory corruption. Triggering the flaw requires specific execution timing during real-time lock releases where RCU read-side critical sections are prematurely terminated. Although an exploit could lead to denial of service or elevated privileges, the tight timing window makes reproducible exploitation difficult under normal operating conditions.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.