CVE-2026-74264

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's network watchdog component. A race condition in the reference count tracking mechanism, specifically between netdev_watchdog_up() and dev_watchdog(), allows for concurrent overwriting or freeing of reference tracking information. This can lead to list corruption and a kernel crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) for the affected system.

Red Hat has evaluated this issue as having a Moderate severity impact because triggering the race condition requires local access and precise timing during network interface state transitions, with the maximum impact confined to a system crash. The underlying race condition occurs during concurrent network device carrier changes and watchdog timer handling, which typically demands local privileges to manipulate device states. Older distributions such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 are not affected as the relevant device reference tracking mechanism is not present in their kernels.

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.