Linux: Use After Free
CVE-2026-23171 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions c6ae2b978001065ca0e1d33d5cbf949efeff879e, 172dcb67dd35b162357df229d7806acc724cd469, 2889d92c5f728351c9930c7996d22fe6e906e785 as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.17% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Linux to c6ae2b978001065ca0e1d33d5cbf949efeff879e or 172dcb67dd35b162357df229d7806acc724cd469 or 2889d92c5f728351c9930c7996d22fe6e906e785 or bd25b092a06a3e05f7e8bd6da6fa7318777d8c3d, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update Linux Kernel to 6.18.9 or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 9e2ee5c7e7c35d195e2aa0692a7241d47a433d1e up to, but not including, c6ae2b978001065ca0e1d33d5cbf949efeff879e; 9e2ee5c7e7c35d195e2aa0692a7241d47a433d1e up to, but not including, 172dcb67dd35b162357df229d7806acc724cd469; 9e2ee5c7e7c35d195e2aa0692a7241d47a433d1e up to, but not including, 2889d92c5f728351c9930c7996d22fe6e906e785; 9e2ee5c7e7c35d195e2aa0692a7241d47a433d1e up to, but not including, bd25b092a06a3e05f7e8bd6da6fa7318777d8c3d; 9e2ee5c7e7c35d195e2aa0692a7241d47a433d1e up to, but not including, e9acda52fd2ee0cdca332f996da7a95c5fd25294; 5.15 | c6ae2b978001065ca0e1d33d5cbf949efeff879e, 172dcb67dd35b162357df229d7806acc724cd469, 2889d92c5f728351c9930c7996d22fe6e906e785, bd25b092a06a3e05f7e8bd6da6fa7318777d8c3d, e9acda52fd2ee0cdca332f996da7a95c5fd25294 |
| Linux | Linux Kernel | 5.15 up to, but not including, 6.18.9; 6.19 | 6.18.9 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | CNA |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | NVD |
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bonding: fix use-after-free due to enslave fail after slave array update Fix a use-after-free which happens due to enslave failure after the new slave has been added to the array. Since the new slave can be used for Tx immediately, we can use it after it has been freed by the enslave error cleanup path which frees the allocated slave memory. Slave update array is supposed to be called last when further enslave failures are not expected. Move it after xdp setup to avoid any problems. It is very easy to reproduce the problem with a simple xdp_pass prog: ip l add bond1 type bond mode balance-xor ip l set bond1 up ip l set dev bond1 xdp object xdp_pass.o sec xdp_pass ip l add dumdum type dummy Then run in parallel: while :; do ip l set dumdum master bond1 1>/dev/null 2>&1; done; mausezahn bond1 -a own -b rand -A rand -B 1.1.1.1 -c 0 -t tcp "dp=1-1023, flags=syn" The crash happens almost immediately: [ 605.602850] Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xe0e6fc2460000137: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI [ 605.602916] KASAN: maybe wild-memory-access in range [0x07380123000009b8-0x07380123000009bf] [ 605.602946] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 2445 Comm: mausezahn Kdump: loaded Tainted: G B 6.19.0-rc6+ #21 PREEMPT(voluntary) [ 605.602979] Tainted: [B]=BAD_PAGE [ 605.602998] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 605.603032] RIP: 0010:netdev_core_pick_tx+0xcd/0x210 [ 605.603063] Code: 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 80 3c 02 00 0f 85 3e 01 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 4c 8b 6b 08 49 8d 7d 30 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02 00 0f 85 25 01 00 00 49 8b 45 30 4c 89 e2 48 89 ee 48 89 [ 605.603111] RSP: 0018:ffff88817b9af348 EFLAGS: 00010213 [ 605.603145] RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: ffff88817d28b420 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 605.603172] RDX: 00e7002460000137 RSI: 0000000000000008 RDI: 07380123000009be [ 605.603199] RBP: ffff88817b541a00 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: fffffbfff3ed8c0c [ 605.603226] R10: ffffffff9f6c6067 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000000000000 [ 605.603253] R13: 073801230000098e R14: ffff88817d28b448 R15: ffff88817b541a84 [ 605.603286] FS: 00007f6570ef67c0(0000) GS:ffff888221dfa000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 605.603319] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 605.603343] CR2: 00007f65712fae40 CR3: 000000011371b000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0 [ 605.603373] Call Trace: [ 605.603392] <TASK> [ 605.603410] __dev_queue_xmit+0x448/0x32a0 [ 605.603434] ? __pfx_vprintk_emit+0x10/0x10 [ 605.603461] ? __pfx_vprintk_emit+0x10/0x10 [ 605.603484] ? __pfx___dev_queue_xmit+0x10/0x10 [ 605.603507] ? bond_start_xmit+0xbfb/0xc20 [bonding] [ 605.603546] ? _printk+0xcb/0x100 [ 605.603566] ? __pfx__printk+0x10/0x10 [ 605.603589] ? bond_start_xmit+0xbfb/0xc20 [bonding] [ 605.603627] ? add_taint+0x5e/0x70 [ 605.603648] ? add_taint+0x2a/0x70 [ 605.603670] ? end_report.cold+0x51/0x75 [ 605.603693] ? bond_start_xmit+0xbfb/0xc20 [bonding] [ 605.603731] bond_start_xmit+0x623/0xc20 [bonding]
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Use After Free
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory belongs to the code that operates on the new pointer.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
- When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Other references
Recent Use After Free vulnerabilities
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