# CVE-2026-23407: apparmor: fix missing bounds check on DEFAULT table in verify_dfa()

> A missing bounds check in the Linux kernel's AppArmor DFA verification allows out-of-bounds reads and writes, potentially leading to code execution or privilege escalation.

- **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:** 1 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-82025, BELL-CVE-2026-23407, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23407, GHSA-6cp6-7hgg-4x9m, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23407

## What is CVE-2026-23407?

CVE-2026-23407 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Apr 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:

apparmor: fix missing bounds check on DEFAULT table in verify_dfa()

The verify_dfa() function only checks DEFAULT_TABLE bounds when the state
is not differentially encoded.

When the verification loop traverses the differential encoding chain,
it reads k = DEFAULT_TABLE[j] and uses k as an array index without
validation. A malformed DFA with DEFAULT_TABLE[j] >= state_count,
therefore, causes both out-of-bounds reads and writes.

[   57.179855] ==================================================================
[   57.180549] BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in verify_dfa+0x59a/0x660
[   57.180904] Read of size 4 at addr ffff888100eadec4 by task su/993

[   57.181554] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 993 Comm: su Not tainted 6.19.0-rc7-next-20260127 #1 PREEMPT(lazy)
[   57.181558] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014
[   57.181563] Call Trace:
[   57.181572]  <TASK>
[   57.181577]  dump_stack_lvl+0x5e/0x80
[   57.181596]  print_report+0xc8/0x270
[   57.181605]  ? verify_dfa+0x59a/0x660
[   57.181608]  kasan_report+0x118/0x150
[   57.181620]  ? verify_dfa+0x59a/0x660
[   57.181623]  verify_dfa+0x59a/0x660
[   57.181627]  aa_dfa_unpack+0x1610/0x1740
[   57.181629]  ? __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x1d0/0x470
[   57.181640]  unpack_pdb+0x86d/0x46b0
[   57.181647]  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[   57.181653]  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[   57.181656]  ? aa_unpack_nameX+0x1a8/0x300
[   57.181659]  aa_unpack+0x20b0/0x4c30
[   57.181662]  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[   57.181664]  ? stack_depot_save_flags+0x33/0x700
[   57.181681]  ? kasan_save_track+0x4f/0x80
[   57.181683]  ? kasan_save_track+0x3e/0x80
[   57.181686]  ? __kasan_kmalloc+0x93/0xb0
[   57.181688]  ? __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x44a/0x780
[   57.181693]  ? aa_simple_write_to_buffer+0x54/0x130
[   57.181697]  ? policy_update+0x154/0x330
[   57.181704]  aa_replace_profiles+0x15a/0x1dd0
[   57.181707]  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[   57.181710]  ? __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x44a/0x780
[   57.181712]  ? aa_loaddata_alloc+0x77/0x140
[   57.181715]  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[   57.181717]  ? _copy_from_user+0x2a/0x70
[   57.181730]  policy_update+0x17a/0x330
[   57.181733]  profile_replace+0x153/0x1a0
[   57.181735]  ? rw_verify_area+0x93/0x2d0
[   57.181740]  vfs_write+0x235/0xab0
[   57.181745]  ksys_write+0xb0/0x170
[   57.181748]  do_syscall_64+0x8e/0x660
[   57.181762]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e
[   57.181765] RIP: 0033:0x7f6192792eb2

Remove the MATCH_FLAG_DIFF_ENCODE condition to validate all DEFAULT_TABLE
entries unconditionally.

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23407?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23407?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23407 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23407 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-2026-23407 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23407 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Apr 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-2026-23407 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-2026-23407/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23407/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23407
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23407
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23407

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23407/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.