Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2026-53033 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-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-38901
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf, sockmap: Take state lock for af_unix iter When a BPF iterator program updates a sockmap, there is a race condition in unix_stream_bpf_update_proto() where the `peer` pointer can become stale[1]…
more
during a state transition TCP_ESTABLISHED -> TCP_CLOSE. CPU0 bpf CPU1 close -------- ---------- // unix_stream_bpf_update_proto() sk_pair = unix_peer(sk) if (unlikely(!sk_pair)) return -EINVAL; // unix_release_sock() skpair = unix_peer(sk); unix_peer(sk) = NULL; sock_put(skpair) sock_hold(sk_pair) // UaF More practically, this fix guarantees that the iterator program is consistently provided with a unix socket that remains stable during iterator execution. [1]: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in unix_stream_bpf_update_proto+0x155/0x490 Write of size 4 at addr ffff8881178c9a00 by task test_progs/2231 Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl+0x5d/0x80 print_report+0x170/0x4f3 kasan_report+0xe4/0x1c0 kasan_check_range+0x125/0x200 unix_stream_bpf_update_proto+0x155/0x490 sock_map_link+0x71c/0xec0 sock_map_update_common+0xbc/0x600 sock_map_update_elem+0x19a/0x1f0 bpf_prog_bbbf56096cdd4f01_selective_dump_unix+0x20c/0x217 bpf_iter_run_prog+0x21e/0xae0 bpf_iter_unix_seq_show+0x1e0/0x2a0 bpf_seq_read+0x42c/0x10d0 vfs_read+0x171/0xb20 ksys_read+0xff/0x200 do_syscall_64+0xf7/0x5e0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e Allocated by task 2236: kasan_save_stack+0x30/0x50 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 __kasan_slab_alloc+0x63/0x80 kmem_cache_alloc_noprof+0x1d5/0x680 sk_prot_alloc+0x59/0x210 sk_alloc+0x34/0x470 unix_create1+0x86/0x8a0 unix_stream_connect+0x318/0x15b0 __sys_connect+0xfd/0x130 __x64_sys_connect+0x72/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0xf7/0x5e0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e Freed by task 2236: kasan_save_stack+0x30/0x50 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x70 __kasan_slab_free+0x47/0x70 kmem_cache_free+0x11c/0x590 __sk_destruct+0x432/0x6e0 unix_release_sock+0x9b3/0xf60 unix_release+0x8a/0xf0 __sock_release+0xb0/0x270 sock_close+0x18/0x20 __fput+0x36e/0xac0 fput_close_sync+0xe5/0x1a0 __x64_sys_close+0x7d/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0xf7/0x5e0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e
- 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.
Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.
Lifecycle management includes secure development and maintenance phases that reduce memory-safety 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