Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-31455

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 5.9 – 5.10.253

Published
22 April 2026
Modified
05 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0013 3th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-31455 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 Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 3th 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 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning) — 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: xfs: stop reclaim before pushing AIL during unmount The unmount sequence in xfs_unmount_flush_inodes() pushed the AIL while background reclaim and inodegc are still running. This is broken independently of any…

more

use-after-free issues - background reclaim and inodegc should not be running while the AIL is being pushed during unmount, as inodegc can dirty and insert inodes into the AIL during the flush, and background reclaim can race to abort and free dirty inodes. Reorder xfs_unmount_flush_inodes() to stop inodegc and cancel background reclaim before pushing the AIL. Stop inodegc before cancelling m_reclaim_work because the inodegc worker can re-queue m_reclaim_work via xfs_inodegc_set_reclaimable.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
Why these techniques?

Kernel UAF (CWE-416) during XFS unmount enables local privilege escalation via crafted filesystem operations.

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-58060Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-53011Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-43203Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-21811Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-31426Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-46180Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-31588Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-31493Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-21855Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-21700Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
7.0 · 5.9 — 5.10.253 · 5.11 — 5.15.203 · 5.16 — 6.1.168

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning
  • SI-4 System Monitoring
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires timely application of vendor patches that reorder xfs_unmount_flush_inodes to stop inodegc and reclaim before AIL push, eliminating the UAF race.

detect

Requires continuous vulnerability scanning to identify unpatched XFS kernels containing the flawed unmount sequencing before an attacker can trigger inode UAF.

detect

Mandates monitoring of kernel and filesystem events that would surface anomalous inode reclaim or AIL activity during unmount indicative of exploitation attempts.

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 directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

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.

detects

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

References