# CVE-2026-23199: procfs: avoid fetching build ID while holding VMA lock

> A race condition in the Linux kernel procfs subsystem can cause a deadlock, leading to a denial of service.

- **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:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-23199, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23199, GHSA-hjgx-24cq-764x, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23199, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23199

## What is CVE-2026-23199?

CVE-2026-23199 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:

procfs: avoid fetching build ID while holding VMA lock

Fix PROCMAP_QUERY to fetch optional build ID only after dropping mmap_lock
or per-VMA lock, whichever was used to lock VMA under question, to avoid
deadlock reported by syzbot:

 -> #1 (&mm->mmap_lock){++++}-{4:4}:
        __might_fault+0xed/0x170
        _copy_to_iter+0x118/0x1720
        copy_page_to_iter+0x12d/0x1e0
        filemap_read+0x720/0x10a0
        blkdev_read_iter+0x2b5/0x4e0
        vfs_read+0x7f4/0xae0
        ksys_read+0x12a/0x250
        do_syscall_64+0xcb/0xf80
        entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

 -> #0 (&sb->s_type->i_mutex_key#8){++++}-{4:4}:
        __lock_acquire+0x1509/0x26d0
        lock_acquire+0x185/0x340
        down_read+0x98/0x490
        blkdev_read_iter+0x2a7/0x4e0
        __kernel_read+0x39a/0xa90
        freader_fetch+0x1d5/0xa80
        __build_id_parse.isra.0+0xea/0x6a0
        do_procmap_query+0xd75/0x1050
        procfs_procmap_ioctl+0x7a/0xb0
        __x64_sys_ioctl+0x18e/0x210
        do_syscall_64+0xcb/0xf80
        entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

 other info that might help us debug this:

  Possible unsafe locking scenario:

        CPU0                    CPU1
        ----                    ----
   rlock(&mm->mmap_lock);
                                lock(&sb->s_type->i_mutex_key#8);
                                lock(&mm->mmap_lock);
   rlock(&sb->s_type->i_mutex_key#8);

  *** DEADLOCK ***

This seems to be exacerbated (as we haven't seen these syzbot reports
before that) by the recent:

	777a8560fd29 ("lib/buildid: use __kernel_read() for sleepable context")

To make this safe, we need to grab file refcount while VMA is still locked, but
other than that everything is pretty straightforward. Internal build_id_parse()
API assumes VMA is passed, but it only needs the underlying file reference, so
just add another variant build_id_parse_file() that expects file passed
directly.

[akpm@linux-foundation.org: fix up kerneldoc]

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23199?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23199?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23199 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23199 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-2026-23199 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23199 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-2026-23199 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-2026-23199/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23199/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23199
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23199
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23199

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23199/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.