Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-23427 is a critical-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 22th 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-23427 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's ksmbd module, which implements an SMB server. The issue arises in parse_durable_handle_context() during handling of a DURABLE_REQ_V2 context with SMB2_FLAGS_REPLAY_OPERATION. This function unconditionally assigns dh_info->fp->conn to the current connection, even though ksmbd_lookup_fd_cguid() returns file handles from other active connections without filtering by fp->conn. The overwrite of fp->conn leads to a use-after-free when the overwriting connection is freed and __ksmbd_close_fd() attempts to dereference the stale fp->conn via spin_lock(&fp->conn->llist_lock). The flaw was detected by KASAN in kernel 7.0.0-rc3, manifesting as a slab-use-after-free during ksmbd workqueue processing.
A remote, unauthenticated attacker with network access to a vulnerable ksmbd instance can exploit this by crafting SMB2 replay operations on durable file handles. Exploitation triggers the connection overwrite and subsequent free, leading to the use-after-free during file close operations. The vulnerability carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating potential for high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, such as kernel crashes or further compromise via the freed connection structure.
Mitigation requires updating to a patched Linux kernel version. Upstream fixes are available in stable kernel repository commits, including 568a25fd7bcdfb2790f7d42aa2a440dca4435c96, 9b0792c3eacf01e67f356d6ef9707b0ae5022419, a5828c14a9e3d5eeed0bcc0a58f0f3fbca0cdcb2, b0158d9d6f4ec5941e49a0b812735db2844f9975, and b425e4d0eb321a1116ddbf39636333181675d8f4.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-18659
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: fix use-after-free in durable v2 replay of active file handles parse_durable_handle_context() unconditionally assigns dh_info->fp->conn to the current connection when handling a DURABLE_REQ_V2 context with SMB2_FLAGS_REPLAY_OPERATION. ksmbd_lookup_fd_cguid() does not filter…
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by fp->conn, so it returns file handles that are already actively connected. The unconditional overwrite replaces fp->conn, and when the overwriting connection is subsequently freed, __ksmbd_close_fd() dereferences the stale fp->conn via spin_lock(&fp->conn->llist_lock), causing a use-after-free. KASAN report: [ 7.349357] ================================================================== [ 7.349607] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in _raw_spin_lock+0x75/0xe0 [ 7.349811] Write of size 4 at addr ffff8881056ac18c by task kworker/1:2/108 [ 7.350010] [ 7.350064] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 108 Comm: kworker/1:2 Not tainted 7.0.0-rc3+ #58 PREEMPTLAZY [ 7.350068] Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC v2 (i440FX + PIIX, arch_caps fix, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 7.350070] Workqueue: ksmbd-io handle_ksmbd_work [ 7.350083] Call Trace: [ 7.350087] <TASK> [ 7.350087] dump_stack_lvl+0x64/0x80 [ 7.350094] print_report+0xce/0x660 [ 7.350100] ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350101] ? __pfx___mod_timer+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350106] ? _raw_spin_lock+0x75/0xe0 [ 7.350108] kasan_report+0xce/0x100 [ 7.350109] ? _raw_spin_lock+0x75/0xe0 [ 7.350114] kasan_check_range+0x105/0x1b0 [ 7.350116] _raw_spin_lock+0x75/0xe0 [ 7.350118] ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350119] ? __call_rcu_common.constprop.0+0x25e/0x780 [ 7.350125] ? close_id_del_oplock+0x2cc/0x4e0 [ 7.350128] __ksmbd_close_fd+0x27f/0xaf0 [ 7.350131] ksmbd_close_fd+0x135/0x1b0 [ 7.350133] smb2_close+0xb19/0x15b0 [ 7.350142] ? __pfx_smb2_close+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350143] ? xas_load+0x18/0x270 [ 7.350146] ? _raw_spin_lock+0x84/0xe0 [ 7.350148] ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350150] ? _raw_spin_unlock+0xe/0x30 [ 7.350151] ? ksmbd_smb2_check_message+0xeb2/0x24c0 [ 7.350153] ? ksmbd_tree_conn_lookup+0xcd/0xf0 [ 7.350154] handle_ksmbd_work+0x40f/0x1080 [ 7.350156] process_one_work+0x5fa/0xef0 [ 7.350162] ? assign_work+0x122/0x3e0 [ 7.350163] worker_thread+0x54b/0xf70 [ 7.350165] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350166] kthread+0x346/0x470 [ 7.350170] ? recalc_sigpending+0x19b/0x230 [ 7.350176] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350178] ret_from_fork+0x4fb/0x6c0 [ 7.350183] ? __pfx_ret_from_fork+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350185] ? __switch_to+0x36c/0xbe0 [ 7.350188] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350190] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 7.350197] </TASK> [ 7.350197] [ 7.355160] Allocated by task 123: [ 7.355261] kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 [ 7.355373] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 7.355484] __kasan_kmalloc+0x8f/0xa0 [ 7.355593] ksmbd_conn_alloc+0x44/0x6d0 [ 7.355711] ksmbd_kthread_fn+0x243/0xd70 [ 7.355839] kthread+0x346/0x470 [ 7.355942] ret_from_fork+0x4fb/0x6c0 [ 7.356051] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 7.356164] [ 7.356214] Freed by task 134: [ 7.356305] kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 [ 7.356416] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 7.356527] kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x60 [ 7.356646] __kasan_slab_free+0x43/0x70 [ 7.356761] kfree+0x1ca/0x430 [ 7.356862] ksmbd_tcp_disconnect+0x59/0xe0 [ 7.356993] ksmbd_conn_handler_loop+0x77e/0xd40 [ 7.357138] kthread+0x346/0x470 [ 7.357240] ret_from_fork+0x4fb/0x6c0 [ 7.357350] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 7.357463] [ 7.357513] The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff8881056ac000 [ 7.357513] which belongs to the cache kmalloc-1k of size 1024 [ 7.357857] The buggy address is located 396 bytes inside of [ 7.357857] freed 1024-byte region ---truncated---
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
V1.4.3
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.
Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.
Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.
Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.
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.
Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.
Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.
Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.
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.
Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.
Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.
Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.
Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.
Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.
Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
- V-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
- V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
- V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416