CVE-2026-23410 apparmor: fix race on rawdata dereference
A race condition in the Linux kernel AppArmor module allows attackers to trigger a use-after-free, potentially leading to code execution or privilege escalation.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-23410?
CVE-2026-23410 is a high-severity use after free 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 race on rawdata dereference
There is a race condition that leads to a use-after-free situation: because the rawdata inodes are not refcounted, an attacker can start open()ing one of the rawdata files, and at the same time remove the last reference to this rawdata (by removing the corresponding profile, for example), which frees its struct aa_loaddata; as a result, when seq_rawdata_open() is reached, i_private is a dangling pointer and freed memory is accessed.
The rawdata inodes weren't refcounted to avoid a circular refcount and were supposed to be held by the profile rawdata reference. However during profile removal there is a window where the vfs and profile destruction race, resulting in the use after free.
Fix this by moving to a double refcount scheme. Where the profile refcount on rawdata is used to break the circular dependency. Allowing for freeing of the rawdata once all inode references to the rawdata are put.
Weakness: CWE-362
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23410?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-23410?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-23410 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23410 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-82034, BELL-CVE-2026-23410, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23410, GHSA-cgmp-3cx7-qfjw, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23410.