CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-64468NVD status: Undergoing Analysis

Linux: Use After Free

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2026-64468 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 5602a43f251c3d75312df91a422675fc00ca3dce, 0be901ab1dcc4af59b88f2e324493bb283850167, 48aeda9f8039e4a6971d1804578efde7f2c01eda 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 0.14% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update Linux to 5602a43f251c3d75312df91a422675fc00ca3dce or 0be901ab1dcc4af59b88f2e324493bb283850167 or 48aeda9f8039e4a6971d1804578efde7f2c01eda or 45df558c543bb5543bacc8065fd7c567740781e5, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Update Linux Kernel to 4.15 or 4.20 or 5.2 or 5.10.261, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
LinuxLinuxa370003cc301d4361bae20c9ef615f89bf8d1e8a up to, but not including, 5602a43f251c3d75312df91a422675fc00ca3dce; a370003cc301d4361bae20c9ef615f89bf8d1e8a up to, but not including, 0be901ab1dcc4af59b88f2e324493bb283850167; a370003cc301d4361bae20c9ef615f89bf8d1e8a up to, but not including, 48aeda9f8039e4a6971d1804578efde7f2c01eda; a370003cc301d4361bae20c9ef615f89bf8d1e8a up to, but not including, 45df558c543bb5543bacc8065fd7c567740781e5; a370003cc301d4361bae20c9ef615f89bf8d1e8a up to, but not including, d45ef513eed1abebfec90c3cfb6ae50c2a4182db; a370003cc301d4361bae20c9ef615f89bf8d1e8a up to, but not including, 328ccf32acb87e8bbb1fe2b065068c574e4db2bf; a370003cc301d4361bae20c9ef615f89bf8d1e8a up to, but not including, 0f15f0f6ca5df566275ce517f257af2559528b41; a370003cc301d4361bae20c9ef615f89bf8d1e8a up to, but not including, f223d27a546c1e1f48d38fd67760e78f068fe8c4; and 7 more ranges5602a43f251c3d75312df91a422675fc00ca3dce, 0be901ab1dcc4af59b88f2e324493bb283850167, 48aeda9f8039e4a6971d1804578efde7f2c01eda, 45df558c543bb5543bacc8065fd7c567740781e5, d45ef513eed1abebfec90c3cfb6ae50c2a4182db, 328ccf32acb87e8bbb1fe2b065068c574e4db2bf
LinuxLinux Kernel4.14.136 up to, but not including, 4.15; 4.19.64 up to, but not including, 4.20; 5.1.15 up to, but not including, 5.2; 5.2.1 up to, but not including, 5.10.261; 5.11 up to, but not including, 5.15.212; 5.16 up to, but not including, 6.1.178; 6.2 up to, but not including, 6.6.145; 6.7 up to, but not including, 6.12.96; and 4 more ranges4.15, 4.20, 5.2, 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178

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 CNA.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: binder: fix UAF in binder_free_transaction() In binder_free_transaction(), the t->to_proc is read under the t->lock. However, once the t->lock is dropped, the to_proc can die in parallel. This leads to a use-after-free error when we attempt to acquire its inner lock right afterwards: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in _raw_spin_lock+0xe4/0x1a0 Write of size 4 at addr ffff00001125da70 by task B/672 CPU: 20 UID: 0 PID: 672 Comm: B Not tainted 7.1.0-rc6-00284-g8e65320d91cd #4 PREEMPT Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) Call trace: _raw_spin_lock+0xe4/0x1a0 binder_free_transaction+0x8c/0x320 binder_send_failed_reply+0x21c/0x2f8 binder_thread_release+0x488/0x7e0 binder_ioctl+0x12c0/0x29a0 [...] Allocated by task 675: __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x174/0x444 binder_open+0x118/0xb70 do_dentry_open+0x374/0x1040 vfs_open+0x58/0x3bc [...] Freed by task 212: __kasan_slab_free+0x58/0x80 kfree+0x1a0/0x4a4 binder_proc_dec_tmpref+0x32c/0x5e0 binder_deferred_func+0xc48/0x104c process_one_work+0x53c/0xbc0 [...] ================================================================== To prevent this, pin the target thread (t->to_thread) to guarantee the target process remains alive. Undelivered transactions without a target thread are already safe, as the target process can only be the current context in those paths.

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.

More Use After Free vulnerabilities (CWE-416)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Use After Free vulnerabilities

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