# CVE-2026-31516

> Vulnerability · severity: **HIGH** (CVSS 7.8).

## Description

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

xfrm: prevent policy_hthresh.work from racing with netns teardown

A XFRM_MSG_NEWSPDINFO request can queue the per-net work item
policy_hthresh.work onto the system workqueue.

The queued callback, xfrm_hash_rebuild(), retrieves the enclosing
struct net via container_of(). If the net namespace is torn down
before that work runs, the associated struct net may already have
been freed, and xfrm_hash_rebuild() may then dereference stale memory.

xfrm_policy_fini() already flushes policy_hash_work during teardown,
but it does not synchronize policy_hthresh.work.

Synchronize policy_hthresh.work in xfrm_policy_fini() as well, so the
queued work cannot outlive the net namespace teardown and access a
freed struct net.

## Key facts

- **CVE ID:** CVE-2026-31516
- **Published:** 2026-04-22
- **CVSS severity:** HIGH
- **CVSS base score:** 7.8
- **CWE codes:** CWE-362

## Affected products

- `linux:linux_kernel`

## Primary sources

- NIST NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31516

## Citation

> AI Analytics. CVE-2026-31516. Retrieved 2026-08-10 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/cve/CVE-2026-31516. Derived from NIST NVD. Licensed CC0.

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