Use-After-Free in Linux kernel (CVE-2026-46280)
Summary
Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2026-46280). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
lib: test_hmm: evict device pages on file close to avoid use-after-free
Patch series "Minor hmm_test fixes and cleanups".
Two bugfixes a cleanup for the HMM kernel selftests. These were mostly
reported by Zenghui Yu with special thanks to Lorenzo for analysing and
pointing out the problems.
This patch (of 3):
When dmirror_fops_release() is called it frees the dmirror struct but
doesn't migrate device private pages back to system memory first. This
leaves those pages with a dangling zone_device_data pointer to the freed
dmirror.
If a subsequent fault occurs on those pages (eg. during coredump) the
dmirror_devmem_fault() callback dereferences the stale pointer causing a
kernel panic. This was reported [1] when running mm/ksft_hmm.sh on arm64,
where a test failure triggered SIGABRT and the resulting coredump walked
the VMAs faulting in the stale device private pages.
Fix this by calling dmirror_device_evict_chunk() for each devmem chunk in
dmirror_fops_release() to migrate all device private pages back to system
memory before freeing the dmirror struct. The function is moved earlier
in the file to avoid a forward declaration.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD GitHub Advisory
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-46280 has been found in Linux kernel.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 7.8/10.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Linux kernel CVE-2026-46280" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-46280 (Linux kernel) — CWE-416 / CVSS v3 7.8
Attack vector: local / no user interaction
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
Use-after-free (CWE-416) exists in Linux kernel.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Linux kernel.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.8/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Audit SBOM/dependencies to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
Audit SBOM/dependencies for affected components.資産台帳・SBOM・依存マニフェストで Linux kernel を使っているサービスとバージョンを洗い出す。
-
2Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Affected packages
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- BellSoft Alpaquita BELL-CVE-2026-46280 linux-lts Fixed in: 6.1.177-r0
- Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2026-46280 linux
- Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2026-46280 linux
References
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- advisory github.com
- package git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web github.com
- web git.kernel.org