CVE-2026-23268

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: apparmor: fix unprivileged local user can do privileged policy management An unprivileged local user can load, replace, and remove profiles by opening the apparmorfs interfaces, via a confused deputy attack, by passing the opened fd to a privileged process, and getting the privileged process to write to the interface. This does require a privileged target that can be manipulated to do the write for the unprivileged process, but once such access is achieved full policy management is possible and all the possible implications that implies: removing confinement, DoS of system or target applications by denying all execution, by-passing the unprivileged user namespace restriction, to exploiting kernel bugs for a local privilege escalation. The policy management interface can not have its permissions simply changed from 0666 to 0600 because non-root processes need to be able to load policy to different policy namespaces. Instead ensure the task writing the interface has privileges that are a subset of the task that opened the interface. This is already done via policy for confined processes, but unconfined can delegate access to the opened fd, by-passing the usual policy check.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2026-03-18
Last modified 2026-05-29
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.8

out of 10
High
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 4.11 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.169, 6.6.130, 6.12.77, 6.18.18, 6.19.8, 7.0 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 4.11
Fixed in
✓ 5.10.253 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.203 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.169 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.130 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.77 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.18 6.18.x ✓ 6.19.8 6.19.x ✓ 7.0

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-23268 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

8 patch commits total View all on NVD

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2026-23268?

    CVE-2026-23268 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.11 onward and has been patched in 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.169 and others. CVE-2026-23268 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-23268?

    CVE-2026-23268 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-23268?

    Yes — CVE-2026-23268 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.169 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.11 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2026-23268 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2026-23268 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

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