# CVE-2026-23118: rxrpc: Fix data-race warning and potential load/store tearing

> A data race in the Linux kernel's rxrpc module can cause load/store tearing, potentially leading to system instability or denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 14 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-77691, BELL-CVE-2026-23118, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23118, GHSA-p8gw-hvf3-xmc4, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-23118, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-23118, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23118, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23118, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23118

## What is CVE-2026-23118?

CVE-2026-23118 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 14 Feb 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:

rxrpc: Fix data-race warning and potential load/store tearing

Fix the following:

        BUG: KCSAN: data-race in rxrpc_peer_keepalive_worker / rxrpc_send_data_packet

which is reporting an issue with the reads and writes to ->last_tx_at in:

        conn->peer->last_tx_at = ktime_get_seconds();

and:

        keepalive_at = peer->last_tx_at + RXRPC_KEEPALIVE_TIME;

The lockless accesses to these to values aren't actually a problem as the
read only needs an approximate time of last transmission for the purposes
of deciding whether or not the transmission of a keepalive packet is
warranted yet.

Also, as ->last_tx_at is a 64-bit value, tearing can occur on a 32-bit
arch.

Fix both of these by switching to an unsigned int for ->last_tx_at and only
storing the LSW of the time64_t.  It can then be reconstructed at need
provided no more than 68 years has elapsed since the last transmission.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23118?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23118?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23118 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23118 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## 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-2026-23118 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23118 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 14 Feb 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-2026-23118 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-2026-23118/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23118/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23118
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23118
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23118

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23118/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.