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Linux Kernel CVE-2026-68283

| EUVDEUVD-2026-55384 HIGH
2026-08-10 Linux GHSA-p3cm-8j25-92w5
8.8
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Linux
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Severity by source

Vendor (Linux) PRIMARY
8.8 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI
6.4 MEDIUM

Tracefs requires CAP_SYS_ADMIN (PR:H, AV:L); race condition exploitation demands precise timing (AC:H); full kernel memory impact applies.

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE
6.4 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Red Hat
5.5 MEDIUM
qualitative

Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).

CVSS VectorVendor: Linux

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

5
Analysis Generated
Aug 14, 2026 - 03:20 vuln.today
CVSS changed
Aug 13, 2026 - 23:37 NVD
8.8 (HIGH)
Patch available
Aug 10, 2026 - 14:18 EUVD
CVE Published
Aug 10, 2026 - 12:02 cve.org
HIGH 8.8
CVE Published
Aug 10, 2026 - 12:02 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tracing: Fix use-after-free freeing trigger private data

Commit 61d445af0a7c ("tracing: Add bulk garbage collection of freeing event_trigger_data") moved the kfree() of event_trigger_data to a kthread that runs tracepoint_synchronize_unregister() before freeing. That removed the synchronization the trigger .free callbacks used to get implicitly and inline from trigger_data_free().

event_hist_trigger_free(), event_hist_trigger_named_free() and event_enable_trigger_free() free their satellite data (hist_data, cmd_ops, enable_data) right after trigger_data_free() returns. With the synchronization now deferred to the kthread, a concurrent tracepoint handler can still reach that data through the list_del_rcu()'d trigger, causing a use-after-free.

The histogram teardown must stay synchronous: remove_hist_vars() and unregister_field_var_hists() have to detach a synthetic event from the histogram before the trigger-removal write returns, otherwise a following command races in and the synthetic-event removal fails with -EBUSY, as the trigger-synthetic-eprobe.tc selftest catches. Make those callbacks wait with the correct barrier - tracepoint_synchronize_unregister(), matching the free kthread - before freeing.

The enable trigger has no such synchronous requirement, and a blocking synchronize there would re-serialize the path that commit deliberately deferred. Give it an optional private_data_free() callback that the free kthread runs after its grace period, and free enable_data from there.

AnalysisAI

Use-after-free in the Linux kernel tracing subsystem exposes kernel memory to corruption when event trigger data is freed asynchronously by a kthread while a concurrent tracepoint handler still holds a reference. Affected are Linux 6.19 and kernel versions containing commit 61d445af0a7c but lacking the fixes at b9c8a1400a3b or 79097812153b. A local attacker with sufficient privilege to configure kernel tracing triggers could exploit this race condition to achieve kernel memory corruption, potentially enabling privilege escalation. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, and EPSS of 0.16% (6th percentile) reflects minimal exploitation activity despite the high CVSS score.

Technical ContextAI

The vulnerability resides in the Linux kernel ftrace/event tracing subsystem (tracefs), specifically in the trigger teardown paths for histogram triggers (event_hist_trigger_free, event_hist_trigger_named_free) and enable triggers (event_enable_trigger_free). Commit 61d445af0a7c introduced bulk deferred garbage collection by moving kfree() of event_trigger_data into a kthread that calls tracepoint_synchronize_unregister() before freeing. This broke the implicit synchronization that trigger .free callbacks previously relied upon: the satellite data structures (hist_data, cmd_ops, enable_data) are freed immediately after trigger_data_free() returns, but a concurrent tracepoint handler can still reach the same data through the list_del_rcu()'d trigger entry before the kthread completes its grace period. The root cause is a classic CWE-416 (Use After Free) pattern arising from RCU list removal without adequate grace-period barriers in the histogram teardown path. The CPE identifies the affected component as cpe:2.3:a:linux:linux:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*. The fix mandates calling tracepoint_synchronize_unregister() synchronously for histogram triggers and introduces an optional private_data_free() callback for the enable trigger so it can be handled asynchronously by the kthread.

RemediationAI

Upgrade to Linux kernel 7.1.6 or 7.2-rc5, which contain the upstream fixes backported at stable commits b9c8a1400a3b and 79097812153b. Distribution-specific kernel updates from vendors (Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL, SUSE, etc.) should be applied as soon as they incorporate these commits; check vendor security advisories for precise package versions. If an immediate kernel upgrade is not feasible, the primary compensating control is to restrict access to tracefs: unmount or bind-mount tracefs with restrictive permissions (chmod 700 /sys/kernel/tracing) or use Linux Security Module (LSM/SELinux/AppArmor) policies to deny writes to tracing trigger files for all non-root users. Note this prevents use of kernel tracing tooling by non-root users (e.g., perf, BPF-based tools relying on ftrace), which may impact observability workflows. Disabling the CONFIG_TRACING kernel option entirely eliminates the attack surface but requires a kernel rebuild and is impractical for distribution kernels. Advisory reference: EUVD-2026-55384 at https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68283.

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 Affected

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CVE-2026-68283 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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