CVE-2026-23216
Received Received - Intake
Use-After-Free in Linux Kernel iSCSI Target Connection Handling

Publication date: 2026-02-18

Last updated on: 2026-03-18

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: target: iscsi: Fix use-after-free in iscsit_dec_conn_usage_count() In iscsit_dec_conn_usage_count(), the function calls complete() while holding the conn->conn_usage_lock. As soon as complete() is invoked, the waiter (such as iscsit_close_connection()) may wake up and proceed to free the iscsit_conn structure. If the waiter frees the memory before the current thread reaches spin_unlock_bh(), it results in a KASAN slab-use-after-free as the function attempts to release a lock within the already-freed connection structure. Fix this by releasing the spinlock before calling complete().
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Meta Information
Published
2026-02-18
Last Modified
2026-03-18
Generated
2026-06-16
AI Q&A
2026-02-18
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-15
NVD
CVE-2026-23216
EUVD
EUVD-2026-8019
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 12 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel 6.19
linux linux_kernel 6.19
linux linux_kernel 6.19
linux linux_kernel 6.19
linux linux_kernel 6.19
linux linux_kernel From 5.16 (inc) to 6.1.163 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 6.7 (inc) to 6.12.70 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 6.2 (inc) to 6.6.124 (exc)
linux linux_kernel 6.19
linux linux_kernel From 6.13 (inc) to 6.18.10 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 5.11 (inc) to 5.15.200 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 3.1 (inc) to 5.10.250 (exc)
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-416 The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.
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Executive Summary

This vulnerability is a use-after-free issue in the Linux kernel's iSCSI target code, specifically in the function iscsit_dec_conn_usage_count().

The problem occurs because the function calls complete() while holding a connection usage lock (conn_usage_lock). When complete() is called, it can wake up a waiter function such as iscsit_close_connection(), which may free the connection structure (iscsit_conn) before the current thread finishes releasing the lock.

If the memory is freed before the lock is released, the function attempts to unlock a spinlock in a structure that has already been freed, causing a kernel address sanitizer (KASAN) slab-use-after-free error.

The fix involves releasing the spinlock before calling complete() to avoid this race condition.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can lead to a use-after-free condition in the Linux kernel, which may cause system instability or crashes due to accessing freed memory.

Such memory corruption issues can potentially be exploited to escalate privileges or cause denial of service, depending on the attacker's capabilities and system configuration.

Compliance Impact

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Detection Guidance

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Mitigation Strategies

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