Not ratedCVE-2026-80849

    Linux Kernel: Use-After-Free (CVE-2026-80849)

    Published Last modified Sources: HKCERT, Ubuntu, Debian LTS, Debian, BSI, CVE.org, EUVD

    Share

    What is affected, what to do

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/tcp-ao: fix use-after-free of current_key on reconnect to another peer tcp_inbound_ao_hash() is called before bh_lock_sock_nested() is taken, with only rcu_read_lock() held. On the fast path for established sockets, if the rnext_keyid sent by the peer differs from current_key->sndid, the key the peer asked for is looked up and stored in current_key.

    Update Linux Kernel to version 6.12.108, Linux Kernel to version 6.18.49, Linux Kernel to version 7.1.13.

    Affected
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.7..6.12.108
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.13..6.18.49
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.19..7.1.13
    • Linux Kernel lt 7.2..7.2.3
    Fixed in
    • Linux Kernel 6.12.108
    • Linux Kernel 6.18.49
    • Linux Kernel 7.1.13
    • Linux Kernel 7.2.3
    • Linux Kernel 7.3

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    —

    XIEM Effective CVSS

    No value is available for this vulnerability.

    0.0

    CVSS v3

    Severity Not rated on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: HKCERT, Ubuntu, Debian LTS, Debian, BSI, CVE.org, EUVD

    0.2 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 6.2

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Not rated
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    24.16 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    0.0
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    0.2 %
    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    6.2
    Low — this CVE sits in the lower 10% of all CVEs scored today.
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Handle the vulnerability in regular vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/tcp-ao: fix use-after-free of current_key on reconnect to another peer tcp_inbound_ao_hash() is called before bh_lock_sock_nested() is taken, with only rcu_read_lock() held. On the fast path for established sockets, if the rnext_keyid sent by the peer differs from current_key->sndid, the key the peer asked for is looked up and stored in current_key. The lookup is inside the RCU read side, but current_key outlives it. When the socket is disconnected and connect() is called again for another peer, tcp_ao_connect_init() unlinks every key that does not match the new peer and frees it with call_rcu(). If current_key points at such a key, it is cleared to NULL. The fast path reads sk_state only once on entry, so a softirq that got into it while the socket was still established can update current_key after that loop has already run. The update is inside the RCU read side, so it comes before the call_rcu() callback, and once the callback frees the key, current_key is left pointing at freed memory. The next transmission picks that pointer up in tcp_get_current_key(). tcp_ao_transmit_skb() then reads the traffic key from the freed object, which is the use-after-free. Wait for one grace period before unlinking, and only if a key is going to be removed. By the time tcp_connect() runs the socket is already in TCP_SYN_SENT, and TCP_AO_ESTABLISHED does not contain TCPF_SYN_SENT, so a softirq entering after the wait cannot reach the fast path, and the ones already in it have finished. The existing NULL handling in the loop is then enough.

    Source: HKCERT (CC BY 3.0 HK) · HKCERT rating: medium, Ubuntu Security Notices, Debian LTS Advisories, Debian Security Advisories, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF, cvelistv5, ENISA EUVD, NVD (NIST), CVE.org (MITRE)

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    LinuxLinux
    • 6.13 – < 6.18.49
    • 6.7 – < 6.12.108
    • 7.2 – < 7.2.3
    • —
    • 6.19 – < 7.1.13
    • 6.18.49
    • 6.12.108
    • 7.2.3
    • 7.3
    • 7.1.13
    Red HatOpenShift
    • Container Platform
    • —

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebianlinuxtrixie
    Linuxubuntulinuxnoble
    Linuxubuntulinuxresolute
    Linuxdebianlinux-6.12bookworm
    Linuxubuntulinux-awsnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-awsresolute
    Linuxubuntulinux-aws-6.8jammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-aws-7.0noble
    Linuxubuntulinux-aws-fipsnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-azurenoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-azureresolute
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-6.8jammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-fdenoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-fderesolute
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-fde-6.8jammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-fde-7.0noble
    Linuxubuntulinux-azure-fipsnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-gcpnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-gcpresolute
    Linuxubuntulinux-gcp-6.8jammy
    Linuxubuntulinux-gcp-7.0noble
    Linuxubuntulinux-gcp-fipsnoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-gkenoble
    Linuxubuntulinux-gkeresolute

    References & sources

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Record modifiedLinux

      1 individual change: Affected versions (publisher)

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/80xxx/CVE-2026-80849.json">CVE-2026-80849</a>

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    2. ReceivedLinux

      Description added or changed

      Show 7 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Descriptionadded
      —
      In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/tcp-ao: fix use-after-free of current_key on reconnect to another peer tcp_inbound_ao_hash() is called before bh_lock_sock_nested() is taken, with only rcu_read_lock() held. On the fast path for established sockets, if the rnext_keyid sent by the peer differs from current_key->sndid, the key the peer asked for is looked up and stored in current_key. The lookup is inside the RCU read side, but current_key outlives it. When the socket is disconnected and connect() is called again for another peer, tcp_ao_connect_init() unlinks every key that does not match the new peer and frees it with call_rcu(). If current_key points at such a key, it is cleared to NULL. The fast path reads sk_state only once on entry, so a softirq that got into it while the socket was still established can update current_key after that loop has already run. The update is inside the RCU read side, so it comes before the call_rcu() callback, and once the callback frees the key, current_key is left pointing at freed memory. The next transmission picks that pointer up in tcp_get_current_key(). tcp_ao_transmit_skb() then reads the traffic key from the freed object, which is the use-after-free. Wait for one grace period before unlinking, and only if a key is going to be removed. By the time tcp_connect() runs the socket is already in TCP_SYN_SENT, and TCP_AO_ESTABLISHED does not contain TCPF_SYN_SENT, so a softirq entering after the wait cannot reach the fast path, and the ones already in it have finished. The existing NULL handling in the loop is then enough.
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/80xxx/CVE-2026-80849.json">CVE-2026-80849</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2857dcbd03cf3354af0fba1b65c6a260fb43811a
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/73fde8fe4469f4ed8f0afcc0b9d6413002a9e6b3
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/84a93b4e012587d0a4a84ffb23ec6da18e9d85f9
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/da4471557f279d0f56605158a625bb6e49ef7d41
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e54ad693eddb40c595add013f545354c538e325b

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    Embed badge

    Show the severity and KEV status of this vulnerability on your site – with a link back here. The image is updated hourly.

    Badge preview for CVE-2026-80849
    <a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2026-80849"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2026-80849.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2026-80849 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>