Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-23109

DoS in Linux Kernel 6.16 – 6.18.8

Published
04 February 2026
Modified
18 March 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0011 2th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-23109 is a medium-severity Infinite Loop (CWE-835) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-6 (Least Privilege) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/writeback: skip AS_NO_DATA_INTEGRITY mappings in wait_sb_inodes() Above the while() loop in wait_sb_inodes(), we document that we must wait for all pages under writeback for data integrity. Consequently, if a mapping,…

more

like fuse, traditionally does not have data integrity semantics, there is no need to wait at all; we can simply skip these inodes. This restores fuse back to prior behavior where syncs are no-ops. This fixes a user regression where if a system is running a faulty fuse server that does not reply to issued write requests, this causes wait_sb_inodes() to wait forever.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
Why these techniques?

Kernel infinite loop (CWE-835) in writeback allows malicious FUSE to trigger system hang on sync, enabling local DoS via exploitation.

Confidence: MEDIUM · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-23451Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
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CVE-2026-31642Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-31498Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-23082Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-43096Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-43486Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-46314Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
6.19 · 6.16 — 6.18.8

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
  • SI-17 Fail-safe Procedures
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • SI-17 Fail-safe Procedures
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires timely application of the kernel patch that adds the AS_NO_DATA_INTEGRITY skip in wait_sb_inodes().

prevent

Least-privilege restriction on FUSE device access and mounts prevents untrusted user-space servers from triggering the infinite wait.

preventrespond

Fail-safe handling of unresponsive writeback operations avoids indefinite blocking on faulty FUSE servers.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices (reviews, testing, static analysis) directly prevent introduction of infinite-loop defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Static analysis and vuln scanning during asset assessment can detect unreachable loop exits.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing can uncover infinite-loop conditions before release.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that can detect and prevent infinite-loop defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify loop-termination rules, indirectly reducing the weakness.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly address loop termination and prevent infinite loops.

none

Secure architecture principles encourage designs that avoid unreachable exit conditions.

none

Change management can require review of loop logic when code is modified.

References