# CVE-2026-23004: dst: fix races in rt6_uncached_list_del() and rt_del_uncached_list() > A race condition in the Linux kernel's IPv6 routing code can lead to a use-after-free, causing a kernel crash and denial of service. - **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Any signed-in user - **Attackable:** Local or same network only - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 25 Jan 2026 - **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026 - **Also known as:** AZL-77304, BELL-CVE-2026-23004, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23004, GHSA-w7vv-gw43-hxq2, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-23004, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-23004, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23004, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23004, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23004, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23004 ## What is CVE-2026-23004? CVE-2026-23004 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. ### Official description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dst: fix races in rt6_uncached_list_del() and rt_del_uncached_list() syzbot was able to crash the kernel in rt6_uncached_list_flush_dev() in an interesting way [1] Crash happens in list_del_init()/INIT_LIST_HEAD() while writing list->prev, while the prior write on list->next went well. static inline void INIT_LIST_HEAD(struct list_head *list) { WRITE_ONCE(list->next, list); // This went well WRITE_ONCE(list->prev, list); // Crash, @list has been freed. } Issue here is that rt6_uncached_list_del() did not attempt to lock ul->lock, as list_empty(&rt->dst.rt_uncached) returned true because the WRITE_ONCE(list->next, list) happened on the other CPU. We might use list_del_init_careful() and list_empty_careful(), or make sure rt6_uncached_list_del() always grabs the spinlock whenever rt->dst.rt_uncached_list has been set. A similar fix is neeed for IPv4. [1] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in INIT_LIST_HEAD include/linux/list.h:46 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in list_del_init include/linux/list.h:296 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in rt6_uncached_list_flush_dev net/ipv6/route.c:191 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in rt6_disable_ip+0x633/0x730 net/ipv6/route.c:5020 Write of size 8 at addr ffff8880294cfa78 by task kworker/u8:14/3450 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 3450 Comm: kworker/u8:14 Tainted: G L syzkaller #0 PREEMPT_{RT,(full)} Tainted: [L]=SOFTLOCKUP Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 10/25/2025 Workqueue: netns cleanup_net Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl+0xe8/0x150 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline] print_report+0xca/0x240 mm/kasan/report.c:482 kasan_report+0x118/0x150 mm/kasan/report.c:595 INIT_LIST_HEAD include/linux/list.h:46 [inline] list_del_init include/linux/list.h:296 [inline] rt6_uncached_list_flush_dev net/ipv6/route.c:191 [inline] rt6_disable_ip+0x633/0x730 net/ipv6/route.c:5020 addrconf_ifdown+0x143/0x18a0 net/ipv6/addrconf.c:3853 addrconf_notify+0x1bc/0x1050 net/ipv6/addrconf.c:-1 notifier_call_chain+0x19d/0x3a0 kernel/notifier.c:85 call_netdevice_notifiers_extack net/core/dev.c:2268 [inline] call_netdevice_notifiers net/core/dev.c:2282 [inline] netif_close_many+0x29c/0x410 net/core/dev.c:1785 unregister_netdevice_many_notify+0xb50/0x2330 net/core/dev.c:12353 ops_exit_rtnl_list net/core/net_namespace.c:187 [inline] ops_undo_list+0x3dc/0x990 net/core/net_namespace.c:248 cleanup_net+0x4de/0x7b0 net/core/net_namespace.c:696 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3257 [inline] process_scheduled_works+0xad1/0x1770 kernel/workqueue.c:3340 worker_thread+0x8a0/0xda0 kernel/workqueue.c:3421 kthread+0x711/0x8a0 kernel/kthread.c:463 ret_from_fork+0x510/0xa50 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:246 Allocated by task 803: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:57 [inline] kasan_save_track+0x3e/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:78 unpoison_slab_object mm/kasan/common.c:340 [inline] __kasan_slab_alloc+0x6c/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:366 kasan_slab_alloc include/linux/kasan.h:253 [inline] slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slub.c:4953 [inline] slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:5263 [inline] kmem_cache_alloc_noprof+0x18d/0x6c0 mm/slub.c:5270 dst_alloc+0x105/0x170 net/core/dst.c:89 ip6_dst_alloc net/ipv6/route.c:342 [inline] icmp6_dst_alloc+0x75/0x460 net/ipv6/route.c:3333 mld_sendpack+0x683/0xe60 net/ipv6/mcast.c:1844 mld_send_cr net/ipv6/mcast.c:2154 [inline] mld_ifc_work+0x83e/0xd60 net/ipv6/mcast.c:2693 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3257 [inline] process_scheduled_works+0xad1/0x1770 kernel/workqueue.c:3340 worker_thread+0x8a0/0xda0 kernel/workqueue.c:3421 kthread+0x711/0x8a0 kernel/kthread.c:463 ret_from_fork+0x510/0xa50 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entr ---truncated--- Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization), CWE-416 (Use After Free) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23004? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2026-23004? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2026-23004 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23004 in the wild and no public exploit code. Public exploit code: - https://github.com/George0Papasotiriou/CVE-2026-23004-Automotive-UDS-Authentication-Bypass-via-Replay-Attack (github_poc): https://github.com/George0Papasotiriou/CVE-2026-23004-Automotive-UDS-Authentication-Bypass-via-Replay-Attack ## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel - [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2026-23004 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2026-23004 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23004 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page. Task: 1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies. 2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it. 3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead. 4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why. 5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing. Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23004/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23004/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23004 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23004 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23004 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23004/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.