CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-72049NVD status: Received

Linux: Missing Authorization

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2026-72049 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.1 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 3465035ba18b1ed50f8d201897d14135d20532b0, dffe745760f38fac0b8288e0dc4759b23d9888ff, e84708ef7521f3bffc85a449954042018abbd60e 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 3465035ba18b1ed50f8d201897d14135d20532b0 or dffe745760f38fac0b8288e0dc4759b23d9888ff or e84708ef7521f3bffc85a449954042018abbd60e or 5abe94a205539d27945cda3ba43fdcfe295cf2c8, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
LinuxLinux3e9c156e2c210ab67b12b1b692983a6b97c19d3f up to, but not including, 3465035ba18b1ed50f8d201897d14135d20532b0; 3e9c156e2c210ab67b12b1b692983a6b97c19d3f up to, but not including, dffe745760f38fac0b8288e0dc4759b23d9888ff; 3e9c156e2c210ab67b12b1b692983a6b97c19d3f up to, but not including, e84708ef7521f3bffc85a449954042018abbd60e; 3e9c156e2c210ab67b12b1b692983a6b97c19d3f up to, but not including, 5abe94a205539d27945cda3ba43fdcfe295cf2c8; 3e9c156e2c210ab67b12b1b692983a6b97c19d3f up to, but not including, 09fd25cd8cd80a6b3edef04e53a7324d06ac2180; 3e9c156e2c210ab67b12b1b692983a6b97c19d3f up to, but not including, 1905ebabe638c946aced00c4bb664da26cac56d5; 3e9c156e2c210ab67b12b1b692983a6b97c19d3f up to, but not including, 6383248058956f2a52d720b1e9f8921099cdae04; 3e9c156e2c210ab67b12b1b692983a6b97c19d3f up to, but not including, 9c1e0b6d49471a712511d23fc9d06901561135e8; and 1 more ranges3465035ba18b1ed50f8d201897d14135d20532b0, dffe745760f38fac0b8288e0dc4759b23d9888ff, e84708ef7521f3bffc85a449954042018abbd60e, 5abe94a205539d27945cda3ba43fdcfe295cf2c8, 09fd25cd8cd80a6b3edef04e53a7324d06ac2180, 1905ebabe638c946aced00c4bb664da26cac56d5

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
NoneAvailability is not affected.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N. Scored by CNA.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ieee802154: admin-gate legacy LLSEC dump operations In net/ieee802154/netlink.c, the legacy IEEE802154_NL family ops table builds the LLSEC dump entries (LLSEC_LIST_KEY, LLSEC_LIST_DEV, LLSEC_LIST_DEVKEY, LLSEC_LIST_SECLEVEL) with IEEE802154_DUMP() which sets no .flags, so generic netlink runs them ungated. The modern nl802154 family admin-gates the equivalent reads via NL802154_CMD_GET_SEC_KEY and friends with .flags = GENL_ADMIN_PERM. Any local uid that can open AF_NETLINK / NETLINK_GENERIC can resolve the "802.15.4 MAC" family and dump LLSEC_LIST_KEY on any wpan netdev that has an LLSEC key installed; the dump handler writes the raw 16-byte AES-128 key bytes (IEEE802154_ATTR_LLSEC_KEY_BYTES, copied verbatim from struct ieee802154_llsec_key.key) into the reply. Recovering the AES key compromises 802.15.4 LLSEC link confidentiality and authenticity, since LLSEC uses CCM* and the same key authenticates and encrypts frames. Impact: any local uid with no capabilities can read the raw 16-byte AES-128 LLSEC key from the kernel keytable on any wpan netdev that has an administrator-installed LLSEC key, by issuing an LLSEC_LIST_KEY dump on the legacy IEEE802154_NL generic-netlink family. Introduce IEEE802154_DUMP_PRIV() mirroring IEEE802154_DUMP() but setting .flags = GENL_ADMIN_PERM, and use it for the four LLSEC dump entries. LIST_PHY and LIST_IFACE retain IEEE802154_DUMP() because the modern nl802154 family exposes their equivalents to unprivileged readers by design (NL802154_CMD_GET_WPAN_PHY and NL802154_CMD_GET_INTERFACE carry "can be retrieved by unprivileged users" annotations).

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Missing Authorization

The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries. Note that this approach may not protect against horizontal authorization, i.e., it will not protect a user from attacking others with the same role.
  • Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records. For example, a database may restrict access for medical records to a specific database user, but each record might only be intended to be accessible to the patient and the patient's doctor.
  • Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. For example, consider using authorization frameworks such as the JAAS Authorization Framework and the OWASP ESAPI Access Control feature.

More Missing Authorization vulnerabilities (CWE-862)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Missing Authorization vulnerabilities

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