Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-31715

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 4.19 – 6.18.25

Published
01 May 2026
Modified
17 May 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 0.0012 2th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-31715 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 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — 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: f2fs: fix UAF caused by decrementing sbi->nr_pages[] in f2fs_write_end_io() The xfstests case "generic/107" and syzbot have both reported a NULL pointer dereference. The concurrent scenario that triggers the panic is…

more

as follows: F2FS_WB_CP_DATA write callback umount - f2fs_write_checkpoint - f2fs_wait_on_all_pages(sbi, F2FS_WB_CP_DATA) - blk_mq_end_request - bio_endio - f2fs_write_end_io : dec_page_count(sbi, F2FS_WB_CP_DATA) : wake_up(&sbi->cp_wait) - kill_f2fs_super - kill_block_super - f2fs_put_super : iput(sbi->node_inode) : sbi->node_inode = NULL : f2fs_in_warm_node_list - is_node_folio // sbi->node_inode is NULL and panic The root cause is that f2fs_put_super() calls iput(sbi->node_inode) and sets sbi->node_inode to NULL after sbi->nr_pages[F2FS_WB_CP_DATA] is decremented to zero. As a result, f2fs_in_warm_node_list() may dereference a NULL node_inode when checking whether a folio belongs to the node inode, leading to a panic. This patch fixes the issue by calling f2fs_in_warm_node_list() before decrementing sbi->nr_pages[F2FS_WB_CP_DATA], thus preventing the use-after-free condition.

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 UAF race during f2fs write completion vs. umount leads to NULL dereference/panic, directly enabling local system exploitation for DoS.

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

CVEs Like This One

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CVE-2026-23351Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-45879Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-31511Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-45906Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-31419Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-45938Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
7.1 · 4.19 — 6.18.25 · 6.19 — 7.0.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles
  • SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
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

Requires use of secure design/engineering principles (e.g., correct operation ordering and synchronization around shared state) that directly prevent the UAF race between f2fs_write_end_io and f2fs_put_super.

prevent

Mandates developer testing and evaluation (including concurrency and filesystem stress tests such as xfstests generic/107) that would have detected the NULL dereference before release.

respond

Requires timely flaw remediation to apply the reordering fix that eliminates the window between nr_pages decrement and node_inode use.

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