# CVE-2026-23120: l2tp: avoid one data-race in l2tp_tunnel_del_work()

> A data race in the Linux kernel L2TP module can lead to a null pointer dereference and system crash.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-77697, BELL-CVE-2026-23120, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23120, GHSA-3w5h-8286-m3qw, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23120, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23120, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23120

## What is CVE-2026-23120?

CVE-2026-23120 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:

l2tp: avoid one data-race in l2tp_tunnel_del_work()

We should read sk->sk_socket only when dealing with kernel sockets.

syzbot reported the following data-race:

BUG: KCSAN: data-race in l2tp_tunnel_del_work / sk_common_release

write to 0xffff88811c182b20 of 8 bytes by task 5365 on cpu 0:
  sk_set_socket include/net/sock.h:2092 [inline]
  sock_orphan include/net/sock.h:2118 [inline]
  sk_common_release+0xae/0x230 net/core/sock.c:4003
  udp_lib_close+0x15/0x20 include/net/udp.h:325
  inet_release+0xce/0xf0 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:437
  __sock_release net/socket.c:662 [inline]
  sock_close+0x6b/0x150 net/socket.c:1455
  __fput+0x29b/0x650 fs/file_table.c:468
  ____fput+0x1c/0x30 fs/file_table.c:496
  task_work_run+0x131/0x1a0 kernel/task_work.c:233
  resume_user_mode_work include/linux/resume_user_mode.h:50 [inline]
  __exit_to_user_mode_loop kernel/entry/common.c:44 [inline]
  exit_to_user_mode_loop+0x1fe/0x740 kernel/entry/common.c:75
  __exit_to_user_mode_prepare include/linux/irq-entry-common.h:226 [inline]
  syscall_exit_to_user_mode_prepare include/linux/irq-entry-common.h:256 [inline]
  syscall_exit_to_user_mode_work include/linux/entry-common.h:159 [inline]
  syscall_exit_to_user_mode include/linux/entry-common.h:194 [inline]
  do_syscall_64+0x1e1/0x2b0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:100
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

read to 0xffff88811c182b20 of 8 bytes by task 827 on cpu 1:
  l2tp_tunnel_del_work+0x2f/0x1a0 net/l2tp/l2tp_core.c:1418
  process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3257 [inline]
  process_scheduled_works+0x4ce/0x9d0 kernel/workqueue.c:3340
  worker_thread+0x582/0x770 kernel/workqueue.c:3421
  kthread+0x489/0x510 kernel/kthread.c:463
  ret_from_fork+0x149/0x290 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158
  ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:246

value changed: 0xffff88811b818000 -> 0x0000000000000000

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23120?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23120?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23120 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23120 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-2026-23120 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23120 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-2026-23120 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-2026-23120/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23120/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23120
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23120
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23120

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23120/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.