CVE-2026-23410
Use-After-Free Race Condition in Linux AppArmor Rawdata Inodes
Publication date: 2026-04-01
Last updated on: 2026-04-24
Assigner: kernel.org
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | 4.13 |
| linux | linux_kernel | 7.0 |
| linux | linux_kernel | 7.0 |
| linux | linux_kernel | 7.0 |
| linux | linux_kernel | 7.0 |
| linux | linux_kernel | 7.0 |
| linux | linux_kernel | 7.0 |
| linux | linux_kernel | 7.0 |
| linux | linux_kernel | From 6.2 (inc) to 6.6.130 (exc) |
| linux | linux_kernel | From 6.7 (inc) to 6.12.77 (exc) |
| linux | linux_kernel | From 5.11 (inc) to 5.15.203 (exc) |
| linux | linux_kernel | From 5.16 (inc) to 6.1.169 (exc) |
| linux | linux_kernel | From 6.13 (inc) to 6.18.18 (exc) |
| linux | linux_kernel | From 6.19 (inc) to 6.19.8 (exc) |
| linux | linux_kernel | From 4.13.1 (inc) to 5.10.253 (exc) |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-362 | The product contains a concurrent code sequence that requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence operating concurrently. |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
This vulnerability is a race condition in the Linux kernel's AppArmor component related to rawdata inodes. Because these rawdata inodes are not reference counted, an attacker can open a rawdata file while simultaneously removing the last reference to that rawdata, such as by deleting the associated profile. This causes the underlying data structure (struct aa_loaddata) to be freed prematurely. When the system later tries to access this freed memory, it results in a use-after-free situation where a dangling pointer is dereferenced.
The root cause is that rawdata inodes were not refcounted to avoid circular references, relying instead on the profile's rawdata reference. However, during profile removal, a timing window exists where the virtual file system (vfs) and profile destruction race, leading to this unsafe memory access.
The fix involves implementing a double reference counting scheme to properly manage the lifecycle of rawdata, breaking the circular dependency and ensuring that rawdata is only freed once all inode references are released.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
This vulnerability can lead to a use-after-free condition in the Linux kernel, which may allow an attacker to cause memory corruption or potentially execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Exploiting this race condition could compromise system stability, cause crashes, or enable privilege escalation.
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
The vulnerability is fixed by applying the patch that moves to a double refcount scheme in the Linux kernel AppArmor component. Immediate mitigation involves updating the Linux kernel to a version that includes this fix.
Since the issue involves a race condition in AppArmor's handling of rawdata inodes, ensuring your system is running the patched kernel version will prevent the use-after-free condition.