Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-53011

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 5.2 – 5.10.258

Published
24 June 2026
Modified
14 July 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-2026-53011 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — 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: net/sched: taprio: fix use-after-free in advance_sched() on schedule switch In advance_sched(), when should_change_schedules() returns true, switch_schedules() is called to promote the admin schedule to oper. switch_schedules() queues the old oper…

more

schedule for RCU freeing via call_rcu(), but 'next' still points into an entry of the old oper schedule. The subsequent 'next->end_time = end_time' and rcu_assign_pointer(q->current_entry, next) are use-after-free. Fix this by selecting 'next' from the new oper schedule immediately after switch_schedules(), and using its pre-calculated end_time. setup_first_end_time() sets the first entry's end_time to base_time + interval when the schedule is installed, so the value is already correct. The deleted 'end_time = sched_base_time(admin)' assignment was also harmful independently: it would overwrite the new first entry's pre-calculated end_time with just base_time.

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 use-after-free in taprio qdisc enables local memory corruption leading to privilege escalation.

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-58060Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-43203Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-21811Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-31455Same 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
5.2 — 5.10.258 · 5.11 — 5.15.209 · 5.16 — 6.1.175

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation
  • SA-15 Development Process, Standards, and Tools
  • SI-16 Memory Protection
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

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

Developer testing with memory-safety tools (KASAN, fuzzers) directly detects the use-after-free on RCU-scheduled taprio schedule switch before code reaches the kernel.

prevent

Mandating secure development standards and static/dynamic analysis tools prevents introduction of the RCU-use-after-free pattern in advance_sched() and switch_schedules().

prevent

Hardware-enforced memory protection and guard pages limit exploitability of the freed oper schedule entry accessed after call_rcu().

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