# CVE-2026-23126: netdevsim: fix a race issue related to the operation on bpf_bound_progs list

> A race condition in the Linux kernel netdevsim driver allows concurrent list operations to cause memory corruption and kernel crashes.

- **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:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-77682, BELL-CVE-2026-23126, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23126, GHSA-2wj2-8hhp-h6hm, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-23126, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23126, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23126, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23126

## What is CVE-2026-23126?

CVE-2026-23126 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:

netdevsim: fix a race issue related to the operation on bpf_bound_progs list

The netdevsim driver lacks a protection mechanism for operations on the
bpf_bound_progs list. When the nsim_bpf_create_prog() performs
list_add_tail, it is possible that nsim_bpf_destroy_prog() is
simultaneously performs list_del. Concurrent operations on the list may
lead to list corruption and trigger a kernel crash as follows:

[  417.290971] kernel BUG at lib/list_debug.c:62!
[  417.290983] invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI
[  417.290992] CPU: 10 PID: 168 Comm: kworker/10:1 Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.19.0-rc5 #1
[  417.291003] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014
[  417.291007] Workqueue: events bpf_prog_free_deferred
[  417.291021] RIP: 0010:__list_del_entry_valid_or_report+0xa7/0xc0
[  417.291034] Code: a8 ff 0f 0b 48 89 fe 48 89 ca 48 c7 c7 48 a1 eb ae e8 ed fb a8 ff 0f 0b 48 89 fe 48 89 c2 48 c7 c7 80 a1 eb ae e8 d9 fb a8 ff <0f> 0b 48 89 d1 48 c7 c7 d0 a1 eb ae 48 89 f2 48 89 c6 e8 c2 fb a8
[  417.291040] RSP: 0018:ffffb16a40807df8 EFLAGS: 00010246
[  417.291046] RAX: 000000000000006d RBX: ffff8e589866f500 RCX: 0000000000000000
[  417.291051] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffff8e59f7b23180 RDI: ffff8e59f7b23180
[  417.291055] RBP: ffffb16a412c9000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000003
[  417.291059] R10: ffffb16a40807c80 R11: ffffffffaf9edce8 R12: ffff8e594427ac20
[  417.291063] R13: ffff8e59f7b44780 R14: ffff8e58800b7a05 R15: 0000000000000000
[  417.291074] FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8e59f7b00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[  417.291079] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[  417.291083] CR2: 00007fc4083efe08 CR3: 00000001c3626006 CR4: 0000000000770ee0
[  417.291088] PKRU: 55555554
[  417.291091] Call Trace:
[  417.291096]  <TASK>
[  417.291103]  nsim_bpf_destroy_prog+0x31/0x80 [netdevsim]
[  417.291154]  __bpf_prog_offload_destroy+0x2a/0x80
[  417.291163]  bpf_prog_dev_bound_destroy+0x6f/0xb0
[  417.291171]  bpf_prog_free_deferred+0x18e/0x1a0
[  417.291178]  process_one_work+0x18a/0x3a0
[  417.291188]  worker_thread+0x27b/0x3a0
[  417.291197]  ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10
[  417.291207]  kthread+0xe5/0x120
[  417.291214]  ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
[  417.291221]  ret_from_fork+0x31/0x50
[  417.291230]  ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
[  417.291236]  ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30
[  417.291246]  </TASK>

Add a mutex lock, to prevent simultaneous addition and deletion operations
on the list.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23126?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23126?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23126 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23126 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-2026-23126 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23126 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-2026-23126 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-2026-23126/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23126/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23126
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23126
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23126

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23126/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
