What is CVE-2026-68178?

CVE-2026-68178 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.8 onward and patched in 6.12.101, 6.18.42, 7.1.6 and others. CVE-2026-68178 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-68178?

CVE-2026-68178 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-2026-68178?

Yes, CVE-2026-68178 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.101, 6.18.42, 7.1.6 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 6.8 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-68178 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-68178 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-68178

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: misc: nsm: pin the module while the device is open misc_open() installs a misc driver's file operations with fops_get(), which pins file_operations::owner before replacing the file's f_op. The NSM misc device leaves nsm_dev_fops.owner unset, so opening /dev/nsm does not take a module reference on the nsm driver. If the driver is built as a module, an open file descriptor can therefore survive rmmod of the module that provides its ioctl callbacks. A later ioctl through that descriptor can call into unloaded module text. Set nsm_dev_fops.owner to THIS_MODULE so the misc core holds the module while any /dev/nsm file descriptor is open, matching the lifetime expectation for the installed file operations.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-08-10

Last modified 2026-08-17

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 6.8 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.12.101, 6.18.42, 7.1.6, 7.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.8

Fixed in

✓ 6.12.101 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.42 6.18.x ✓ 7.1.6 7.1.x ✓ 7.2

References

4 total

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-68178

Severity High

CVSS score 7.8 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-08-10

Modified 2026-08-17

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-68178?

CVE-2026-68178 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.8 onward and has been patched in 6.12.101, 6.18.42, 7.1.6 and others. CVE-2026-68178 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-68178?

CVE-2026-68178 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-2026-68178?

Yes. CVE-2026-68178 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.101, 6.18.42, 7.1.6 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 6.8 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-68178 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-68178 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.