What is CVE-2026-23428?

CVE-2026-23428 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, classified as a Use After Free flaw (CWE-416), affecting Linux kernel versions from 5.15.121 onward and patched in 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130 and others. CVE-2026-23428 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-23428?

CVE-2026-23428 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity. 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-2026-23428?

Yes, CVE-2026-23428 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.15.121 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-23428 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-23428 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is Use After Free (CWE-416)?

The product references memory after it has been freed, which may cause it to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/416.html

CVE-2026-23428

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: fix use-after-free of share_conf in compound request smb2_get_ksmbd_tcon() reuses work->tcon in compound requests without validating tcon->t_state. ksmbd_tree_conn_lookup() checks t_state == TREE_CONNECTED on the initial lookup path, but the compound reuse path bypasses this check entirely. If a prior command in the compound (SMB2_TREE_DISCONNECT) sets t_state to TREE_DISCONNECTED and frees share_conf via ksmbd_share_config_put(), subsequent commands dereference the freed share_conf through work->tcon->share_conf. KASAN report: [ 4.144653] ================================================================== [ 4.145059] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in smb2_write+0xc74/0xe70 [ 4.145415] Read of size 4 at addr ffff88810430c194 by task kworker/1:1/44 [ 4.145772] [ 4.145867] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 44 Comm: kworker/1:1 Not tainted 7.0.0-rc3+ #60 PREEMPTLAZY [ 4.145871] Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC v2 (i440FX + PIIX, arch_caps fix, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 4.145875] Workqueue: ksmbd-io handle_ksmbd_work [ 4.145888] Call Trace: [ 4.145892] <TASK> [ 4.145894] dump_stack_lvl+0x64/0x80 [ 4.145910] print_report+0xce/0x660 [ 4.145919] ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x10/0x10 [ 4.145928] ? smb2_write+0xc74/0xe70 [ 4.145931] kasan_report+0xce/0x100 [ 4.145934] ? smb2_write+0xc74/0xe70 [ 4.145937] smb2_write+0xc74/0xe70 [ 4.145939] ? __pfx_smb2_write+0x10/0x10 [ 4.145942] ? _raw_spin_unlock+0xe/0x30 [ 4.145945] ? ksmbd_smb2_check_message+0xeb2/0x24c0 [ 4.145948] ? smb2_tree_disconnect+0x31c/0x480 [ 4.145951] handle_ksmbd_work+0x40f/0x1080 [ 4.145953] process_one_work+0x5fa/0xef0 [ 4.145962] ? assign_work+0x122/0x3e0 [ 4.145964] worker_thread+0x54b/0xf70 [ 4.145967] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [ 4.145970] kthread+0x346/0x470 [ 4.145976] ? recalc_sigpending+0x19b/0x230 [ 4.145980] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 4.145984] ret_from_fork+0x4fb/0x6c0 [ 4.145992] ? __pfx_ret_from_fork+0x10/0x10 [ 4.145995] ? __switch_to+0x36c/0xbe0 [ 4.145999] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 4.146003] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 4.146013] </TASK> [ 4.146014] [ 4.149858] Allocated by task 44: [ 4.149953] kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 [ 4.150061] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 4.150169] __kasan_kmalloc+0x8f/0xa0 [ 4.150274] ksmbd_share_config_get+0x1dd/0xdd0 [ 4.150401] ksmbd_tree_conn_connect+0x7e/0x600 [ 4.150529] smb2_tree_connect+0x2e6/0x1000 [ 4.150645] handle_ksmbd_work+0x40f/0x1080 [ 4.150761] process_one_work+0x5fa/0xef0 [ 4.150873] worker_thread+0x54b/0xf70 [ 4.150978] kthread+0x346/0x470 [ 4.151071] ret_from_fork+0x4fb/0x6c0 [ 4.151176] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 4.151286] [ 4.151332] Freed by task 44: [ 4.151418] kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 [ 4.151526] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 4.151634] kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x60 [ 4.151751] __kasan_slab_free+0x43/0x70 [ 4.151861] kfree+0x1ca/0x430 [ 4.151952] __ksmbd_tree_conn_disconnect+0xc8/0x190 [ 4.152088] smb2_tree_disconnect+0x1cd/0x480 [ 4.152211] handle_ksmbd_work+0x40f/0x1080 [ 4.152326] process_one_work+0x5fa/0xef0 [ 4.152438] worker_thread+0x54b/0xf70 [ 4.152545] kthread+0x346/0x470 [ 4.152638] ret_from_fork+0x4fb/0x6c0 [ 4.152743] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 4.152853] [ 4.152900] The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff88810430c180 [ 4.152900] which belongs to the cache kmalloc-96 of size 96 [ 4.153226] The buggy address is located 20 bytes inside of [ 4.153226] freed 96-byte region [ffff88810430c180, ffff88810430c1e0) [ 4.153549] [ 4.153596] The buggy address belongs to the physical page: [ 4.153750] page: refcount:0 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0xffff88810430ce80 pfn:0x10430c [ 4.154000] flags: 0x ---truncated---

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-04-03

Last modified 2026-04-27

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

Weakness type

CWE-416

CVE-2026-23428 is a Use After Free vulnerability

What is Use After Free?

The product references memory after it has been freed, which may cause it to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 5.15.121, 6.1.36, 6.3.10, 6.4 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.18.20, 6.19.10, 7.0 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 5.15.121 ≥ 6.1.36 ≥ 6.3.10 ≥ 6.4

Fixed in

✓ 5.15.203 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.167 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.130 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.78 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.20 6.18.x ✓ 6.19.10 6.19.x ✓ 7.0

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-23428 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7f7468fd2a7554cea91b7d430335a3dbf01dcc09
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/806f13752652216db0c309392b4db3e64eeed4f2
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a5929c2020ce54e1dcbd1078c0f30b8aaf73c105
Patch

7 patch commits total View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-23428

Severity High

CVSS score 7.8 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-04-03

Modified 2026-04-27

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-23428?

CVE-2026-23428 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10 , classified as an Use After Free flaw (CWE-416) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.15.121 onward and has been patched in 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130 and others. CVE-2026-23428 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-23428?

CVE-2026-23428 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-2026-23428?

Yes — CVE-2026-23428 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.15.121 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-23428 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2026-23428 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is Use After Free (CWE-416)?

The product references memory after it has been freed, which may cause it to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. View CWE-416 on MITRE CWE →