CVE-2026-72121
HighCVSS 8.8Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk26th percentile - higher than 26% of all known CVEs
Summary
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's CAN BCM (Broadcast Manager) module was found, caused by missing synchronization when updating timer and filter values. Concurrent access from CAN traffic handling threads can lead to a race condition, resulting in incorrect behavior or potential privilege escalation.
Risk Assessment
Organizations using CAN networks (e.g., in embedded systems, vehicles, or automation) may experience unpredictable driver behavior, communication failures, or in extreme cases, system integrity compromise.
Recommendation
It is recommended to immediately apply the official Linux kernel patch for CVE-2026-72121 and update systems to a patched kernel version.
Original NVD description (English source)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: can: bcm: add locking when updating filter and timer values KCSAN detected a simultaneous access to timer values that can be overwritten in bcm_rx_setup() when updating timer and filter content while bcm_rx_handler(), bcm_rx_timeout_handler() or bcm_rx_thr_handler() run concurrently on incoming CAN traffic. Protect the timer (ival1/ival2/kt_ival1/kt_ival2/kt_lastmsg) and filter (nframes/flags/frames/last_frames) updates in bcm_rx_setup() with a new per-op bcm_rx_update_lock, taken with the matching scope in the RX handlers. memcpy_from_msg() is staged into a temporary buffer before the lock is taken, since it can sleep and must not run under a spinlock. hrtimer_cancel() is always called without bcm_rx_update_lock held, since bcm_rx_timeout_handler()/bcm_rx_thr_handler() take the same lock and a running callback would otherwise deadlock against the canceller. Also close a related race: bcm_rx_setup() cleared the RTR flag in the stored reply frame's can_id as a separate, unprotected step after the frame content was already installed, so a concurrent bcm_rx_handler() could transmit a stale reply with CAN_RTR_FLAG still set. Fold that normalization into the initial frame preparation instead (on the staged buffer for updates, directly on op->frames pre-registration for new ops), so the installed frame is always atomically self-consistent. bcm_rx_handler()'s RX_RTR_FRAME check now takes a lock-protected snapshot of op->flags before deciding whether to call bcm_can_tx(), but does not hold the lock across that call. Also take a lock-protected snapshot of the currframe in bcm_can_tx() to avoid partly overwrites by content updates in bcm_tx_setup(). Finally check if a TX_RESET_MULTI_IDX/SETTIMER might have reset op->currframe between the two locked sections in bcm_can_tx(). Omit calling hrtimer_forward() with zero interval in bcm_rx_thr_handler(). kt_ival2 may have been concurrently cleared by bcm_rx_setup() before it cancels this timer, so check kt_ival2 inside the bcm_rx_update_lock.

