# CVE-2026-23194: rust_binder: correctly handle FDA objects of length zero

> An out-of-bounds write in the Linux kernel's Rust binder driver can cause a denial of service when processing empty file descriptor arrays.

- **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:** 14 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-23194, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23194, GHSA-cgrj-w8m6-f297, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23194

## What is CVE-2026-23194?

CVE-2026-23194 is a high-severity memory corruption 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:

rust_binder: correctly handle FDA objects of length zero

Fix a bug where an empty FDA (fd array) object with 0 fds would cause an
out-of-bounds error. The previous implementation used `skip == 0` to
mean "this is a pointer fixup", but 0 is also the correct skip length
for an empty FDA. If the FDA is at the end of the buffer, then this
results in an attempt to write 8-bytes out of bounds. This is caught and
results in an EINVAL error being returned to userspace.

The pattern of using `skip == 0` as a special value originates from the
C-implementation of Binder. As part of fixing this bug, this pattern is
replaced with a Rust enum.

I considered the alternate option of not pushing a fixup when the length
is zero, but I think it's cleaner to just get rid of the zero-is-special
stuff.

The root cause of this bug was diagnosed by Gemini CLI on first try. I
used the following prompt:

> There appears to be a bug in @drivers/android/binder/thread.rs where
> the Fixups oob bug is triggered with 316 304 316 324. This implies
> that we somehow ended up with a fixup where buffer A has a pointer to
> buffer B, but the pointer is located at an index in buffer A that is
> out of bounds. Please investigate the code to find the bug. You may
> compare with @drivers/android/binder.c that implements this correctly.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23194?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23194?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23194 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23194 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-2026-23194 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23194 is a high-severity memory corruption 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-2026-23194 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-2026-23194/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23194/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23194
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23194
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23194

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23194/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.