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Linux Kernel EUVDEUVD-2026-59939

| CVE-2026-74578 HIGH
2026-08-16 Linux GHSA-fh4p-v6r7-6956
7.1
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Linux
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Severity by source

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

Race condition requires precise concurrent socket timing (AC:H); local user account needed (PR:L, AV:L); no availability impact and no scope change.

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

Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).

CVSS VectorVendor: Linux

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

Lifecycle Timeline

5
Analysis Generated
Aug 17, 2026 - 12:37 vuln.today
CVSS changed
Aug 17, 2026 - 06:22 NVD
7.1 (HIGH)
Patch available
Aug 16, 2026 - 09:16 EUVD
CVE Published
Aug 16, 2026 - 08:20 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)
CVE Published
Aug 16, 2026 - 08:20 cve.org
HIGH 7.1

DescriptionCVE.org

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

crypto: algif_skcipher - force synchronous processing on trees without ctx->state

The AIO/async path in skcipher_recvmsg() passes the socket-wide ctx->iv directly into the skcipher request. After io_submit() the socket lock is dropped and the request is processed asynchronously, so a concurrent sendmsg(ALG_SET_IV) can overwrite ctx->iv and make the in-flight request run under an attacker-controlled IV. For CTR/stream modes this is IV/keystream reuse and lets an unprivileged user recover the plaintext of a concurrent operation.

Snapshotting ctx->iv into per-request storage for the async path is not sufficient. For ciphers with statesize == 0 - which includes cbc and ctr - the MSG_MORE inter-chunk IV chaining is carried solely by the in-place req->iv writeback, which a snapshot redirects into per-request memory that af_alg_free_resources() releases on completion, silently producing wrong output. Writing the IV back from the completion callback instead is not possible either: that would require lock_sock() there, but the callback can run in softirq/atomic context, so it must not sleep.

Make the operation synchronous instead, which removes both the IV race and any writeback race. This is equivalent to the upstream resolution, commit fcc77d33a34c ("net: Remove support for AIO on sockets"), which removed the AIO socket path across net/ entirely and so produces the same end state for this file. This patch deviates from that commit deliberately: rather than removing AIO socket support tree-wide, which would be far too invasive for stable, it removes only the AIO branch in crypto/algif_skcipher.c. io_submit() now completes synchronously; AF_ALG async is rarely used in practice.

The -EIOCBQUEUED check in skcipher_recvmsg() is now dead but harmless, and is left alone to keep the fix minimal.

Tested on 6.6.y: attacker IV injection dropped from 2296/200000 to 0/200000 after the change; MSG_MORE chunked CTR output bit-identical to single-shot.

AnalysisAI

IV race condition in the Linux kernel's AF_ALG skcipher interface allows local unprivileged users to inject attacker-controlled initialization vectors into in-flight AIO cryptographic operations. For CTR and CBC modes, IV reuse enables keystream derivation and plaintext recovery of concurrent cipher operations sharing the same AF_ALG socket. …

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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata

Access
Obtain local user account on target
Delivery
Open AF_ALG SOCK_SEQPACKET skcipher socket in CTR/CBC mode
Exploit
Submit AIO decryption request via io_submit() releasing socket lock
Execution
Race concurrent sendmsg(ALG_SET_IV) to overwrite shared ctx->iv buffer
Persist
In-flight request executes under injected IV causing keystream reuse
Impact
XOR ciphertext outputs to derive keystream and recover plaintext

Vulnerability AssessmentAI

Exploitation Exploitation requires a local user account on the target system - no network access is needed. … Additional conditions and limiting factors are described in the full assessment.
Risk Assessment The NVD-assigned CVSS of 7.1 with AV:L/AC:L/PR:L captures the local privilege requirement but AC:L arguably understates the attack complexity - this is a timing-sensitive race condition between concurrent socket operations, which in practice makes reliable exploitation harder than a deterministic flaw. … Full risk analysis with EPSS, KEV, and SSVC signal comparison available after sign-in.
Exploit Scenario A local unprivileged user opens an AF_ALG SOCK_SEQPACKET socket configured for CTR mode and submits an AIO decryption request via io_submit(), which releases the socket lock while the request is in-flight and referencing the shared ctx->iv buffer. Concurrently, a second thread from the same process issues sendmsg(ALG_SET_IV) to overwrite the shared IV, causing the in-flight cipher operation to execute under the injected IV. …
Remediation Upgrade to a patched kernel version for your running stable branch: 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 7.1.5, or 7.2-rc1. … Detailed patch versions, workarounds, and compensating controls in full report.

Recommended ActionAI

Within 24 hours, identify all Linux systems with kernel versions prior to: 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 7.1.5, or 7.2-rc1. …

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Threat intelligence, references, and detailed analysis are available after sign-in.

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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EUVD-2026-59939 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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