Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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-2026-31454 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); 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 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-2026-31454 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's XFS filesystem implementation, affecting the xfs_inode_item_push() and xfs_qm_dquot_logitem_push() functions. The issue arises when the AIL lock is dropped to perform buffer I/O on a cluster buffer. During this window, the log item is no longer protected from reclaim, allowing background reclaim or the dquot shrinker to free it. A subsequent spin_lock() call then dereferences the freed lip->li_ailp pointer, leading to the use-after-free condition. The vulnerability was published on 2026-04-22 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
A local attacker with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability due to its low attack complexity and lack of need for user interaction. Exploitation involves triggering the push callbacks in XFS during scenarios like buffer I/O operations, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution, data corruption, or system crashes given the high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Mitigation requires applying the upstream Linux kernel patches from the stable repository, as detailed in the referenced commits such as 19437e4f7bb909afde832b39372aa2f3ce3cfd88, 394d70b86fae9fe865e7e6d9540b7696f73aa9b6, 4c7d50147316cf049462f327c4a3e9dc2b7f1dd0, 50f5f056807b7bed74f4f307f2ca0ed92f3e556d, and 6dbe17f19c290a72ce57d5abc70e1fad0c3e14e5. These patches resolve the issue by saving the ailp pointer in a local variable while the AIL lock is held, ensuring the log item remains valid before dropping the lock.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-24793
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfs: save ailp before dropping the AIL lock in push callbacks In xfs_inode_item_push() and xfs_qm_dquot_logitem_push(), the AIL lock is dropped to perform buffer IO. Once the cluster buffer no longer…
more
protects the log item from reclaim, the log item may be freed by background reclaim or the dquot shrinker. The subsequent spin_lock() call dereferences lip->li_ailp, which is a use-after-free. Fix this by saving the ailp pointer in a local variable while the AIL lock is held and the log item is guaranteed to be valid.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
—
—
- 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.
Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.
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.
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.
Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.
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.
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` (authoritative 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