HighCVE-2026-99053

    Linux Kernel: Use-After-Free (CVE-2026-99053)

    Published Last modified Sources: Msrc Update Guide, CVE.org, BSI

    What is affected, what to do

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tipc: hold a reference to nodes found by link name tipc_node_find_by_name() returns a node after dropping its RCU read lock without taking a reference. The LINK_SET, LINK_GET and LINK_RESET_STATS handlers then lock and access the node, racing with timer-driven cleanup of a down peer.

    Update Linux Kernel to version 5.10.273, Linux Kernel to version 5.15.224, Linux Kernel to version 6.1.191.

    Affected
    • Linux Kernel lt 4.19..5.10.273
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.11..5.15.224
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.16..6.1.191
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.2..6.6.160
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.7..6.12.113
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.13..6.18.57
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.19..7.2.11
    Fixed in
    • Linux Kernel 5.10.273
    • Linux Kernel 5.15.224
    • Linux Kernel 6.1.191
    • Linux Kernel 6.6.160
    • Linux Kernel 6.12.113
    • Linux Kernel 6.18.57
    • Linux Kernel 7.2.11
    • Linux Kernel 7.3

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

    Metrics

    7.8

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v3

    7.8

    CVSS v3

    Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: Msrc Update Guide, CVE.org, BSI

    0.2 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 6.4

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    High
    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
    69.33 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
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    7.8 Methodology
    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
    7.8
    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
    6.4
    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
    High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
    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: tipc: hold a reference to nodes found by link name tipc_node_find_by_name() returns a node after dropping its RCU read lock without taking a reference. The LINK_SET, LINK_GET and LINK_RESET_STATS handlers then lock and access the node, racing with timer-driven cleanup of a down peer. Generic netlink serialization does not exclude the node timer. The following interleaving can leave a handler using a freed node: CPU 0: find the node under RCU and release the node read lock CPU 1: tipc_node_timeout() clears the links and unlinks the down node CPU 1: drop the list and timer references, queuing tipc_node_free() CPU 0: leave the RCU read-side critical section CPU 1: complete the grace period and free the node CPU 0: acquire the node lock through the stale pointer LINK_SET also uses the node's media address after releasing the node lock, when passing queued packets to tipc_bearer_xmit(). KASAN on v7.3-rc5 reported: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in _raw_read_lock_bh Write of size 4 at addr ffff88807e06f008 by task poc/92 Call Trace: _raw_read_lock_bh kernel/locking/spinlock.c:287 tipc_nl_node_set_link net/tipc/node.c:2475 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit net/netlink/genetlink.c:1114 genl_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:1209 netlink_rcv_skb net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2575 Allocated by task 0: tipc_node_create net/tipc/node.c:539 tipc_node_check_dest net/tipc/node.c:1196 tipc_disc_rcv net/tipc/discover.c:252 Freed by task 92: kfree mm/slub.c:6801 rcu_core kernel/rcu/tree.c:2919 Last potentially related work creation: __call_rcu_common.constprop.0 kernel/rcu/tree.c:3181 tipc_node_timeout net/tipc/node.c:814 Acquire a reference to the selected node with kref_get_unless_zero() before leaving RCU, returning NULL if the node has already been released. Release that reference on every caller exit after the last node access, including transmission in LINK_SET. Keep the existing link lookup order and locking so concurrent link removal still takes the existing error paths.

    Source: Microsoft Security Update Guide, cvelistv5, NVD (NIST), BSI CSAF, BSI WID Portal

    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
    • 6.19 – < 7.2.11
    • 5.11 – < 5.15.224
    • 5.16 – < 6.1.191
    • 6.7 – < 6.12.113
    • 4.19 – < 5.10.273
    • —
    • 6.13 – < 6.18.57
    • 6.2 – < 6.6.160
    • 7.2.11
    • 5.15.224
    • 6.1.191
    • 6.12.113
    • 5.10.273
    • 7.3
    • 6.18.57
    • 6.6.160

    Vendors and products

    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

      Show 4 original changes
      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/2026/99xxx/CVE-2026-99053.json">CVE-2026-99053</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/384edc67201f8561b7de952647b923f0524b1f36
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5b7e58e8be90f4e8530e7a60372d003dfa7fd666
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/92f3b3368722631e933a4db0cf8bd578ed08cd9c

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

    2. Record modifiedLinux

      CVSS V3.1: AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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

    3. 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: tipc: hold a reference to nodes found by link name tipc_node_find_by_name() returns a node after dropping its RCU read lock without taking a reference. The LINK_SET, LINK_GET and LINK_RESET_STATS handlers then lock and access the node, racing with timer-driven cleanup of a down peer. Generic netlink serialization does not exclude the node timer. The following interleaving can leave a handler using a freed node: CPU 0: find the node under RCU and release the node read lock CPU 1: tipc_node_timeout() clears the links and unlinks the down node CPU 1: drop the list and timer references, queuing tipc_node_free() CPU 0: leave the RCU read-side critical section CPU 1: complete the grace period and free the node CPU 0: acquire the node lock through the stale pointer LINK_SET also uses the node's media address after releasing the node lock, when passing queued packets to tipc_bearer_xmit(). KASAN on v7.3-rc5 reported: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in _raw_read_lock_bh Write of size 4 at addr ffff88807e06f008 by task poc/92 Call Trace: _raw_read_lock_bh kernel/locking/spinlock.c:287 tipc_nl_node_set_link net/tipc/node.c:2475 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit net/netlink/genetlink.c:1114 genl_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:1209 netlink_rcv_skb net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2575 Allocated by task 0: tipc_node_create net/tipc/node.c:539 tipc_node_check_dest net/tipc/node.c:1196 tipc_disc_rcv net/tipc/discover.c:252 Freed by task 92: kfree mm/slub.c:6801 rcu_core kernel/rcu/tree.c:2919 Last potentially related work creation: __call_rcu_common.constprop.0 kernel/rcu/tree.c:3181 tipc_node_timeout net/tipc/node.c:814 Acquire a reference to the selected node with kref_get_unless_zero() before leaving RCU, returning NULL if the node has already been released. Release that reference on every caller exit after the last node access, including transmission in LINK_SET. Keep the existing link lookup order and locking so concurrent link removal still takes the existing error paths.
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/99xxx/CVE-2026-99053.json">CVE-2026-99053</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1428c5f1d346a2e1ac9156713975a72246957009
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/17e73bae400f6a434dc006e3bee92c94cf781954
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3c3b308ee6e25729a6cf09b69cdd0e093220d40b
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b60259d4047fbb735476c729dcf9306a038b6110
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f17e70206a1e763fcca2578a8db3c4eed0f843a9

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

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