CVE-2026-23427 ksmbd: fix use-after-free in durable v2 replay of active file handles
A use-after-free in the Linux kernel's ksmbd SMB server allows attackers to trigger memory corruption, potentially leading to code execution or privilege escalation.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-23427?
CVE-2026-23427 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Apr 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ksmbd: fix use-after-free in durable v2 replay of active file handles
parse_durable_handle_context() unconditionally assigns dh_info->fp->conn to the current connection when handling a DURABLE_REQ_V2 context with SMB2_FLAGS_REPLAY_OPERATION. ksmbd_lookup_fd_cguid() does not filter by fp->conn, so it returns file handles that are already actively connected. The unconditional overwrite replaces fp->conn, and when the overwriting connection is subsequently freed, __ksmbd_close_fd() dereferences the stale fp->conn via spin_lock(&fp->conn->llist_lock), causing a use-after-free.
KASAN report:
[ 7.349357] ================================================================== [ 7.349607] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in _raw_spin_lock+0x75/0xe0 [ 7.349811] Write of size 4 at addr ffff8881056ac18c by task kworker/1:2/108 [ 7.350010] [ 7.350064] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 108 Comm: kworker/1:2 Not tainted 7.0.0-rc3+ #58 PREEMPTLAZY [ 7.350068] Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC v2 (i440FX + PIIX, arch_caps fix, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 7.350070] Workqueue: ksmbd-io handle_ksmbd_work [ 7.350083] Call Trace: [ 7.350087] <TASK> [ 7.350087] dump_stack_lvl+0x64/0x80 [ 7.350094] print_report+0xce/0x660 [ 7.350100] ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350101] ? __pfx___mod_timer+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350106] ? _raw_spin_lock+0x75/0xe0 [ 7.350108] kasan_report+0xce/0x100 [ 7.350109] ? _raw_spin_lock+0x75/0xe0 [ 7.350114] kasan_check_range+0x105/0x1b0 [ 7.350116] _raw_spin_lock+0x75/0xe0 [ 7.350118] ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350119] ? __call_rcu_common.constprop.0+0x25e/0x780 [ 7.350125] ? close_id_del_oplock+0x2cc/0x4e0 [ 7.350128] __ksmbd_close_fd+0x27f/0xaf0 [ 7.350131] ksmbd_close_fd+0x135/0x1b0 [ 7.350133] smb2_close+0xb19/0x15b0 [ 7.350142] ? __pfx_smb2_close+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350143] ? xas_load+0x18/0x270 [ 7.350146] ? _raw_spin_lock+0x84/0xe0 [ 7.350148] ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350150] ? _raw_spin_unlock+0xe/0x30 [ 7.350151] ? ksmbd_smb2_check_message+0xeb2/0x24c0 [ 7.350153] ? ksmbd_tree_conn_lookup+0xcd/0xf0 [ 7.350154] handle_ksmbd_work+0x40f/0x1080 [ 7.350156] process_one_work+0x5fa/0xef0 [ 7.350162] ? assign_work+0x122/0x3e0 [ 7.350163] worker_thread+0x54b/0xf70 [ 7.350165] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350166] kthread+0x346/0x470 [ 7.350170] ? recalc_sigpending+0x19b/0x230 [ 7.350176] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350178] ret_from_fork+0x4fb/0x6c0 [ 7.350183] ? __pfx_ret_from_fork+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350185] ? __switch_to+0x36c/0xbe0 [ 7.350188] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 7.350190] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 7.350197] </TASK> [ 7.350197] [ 7.355160] Allocated by task 123: [ 7.355261] kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 [ 7.355373] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 7.355484] __kasan_kmalloc+0x8f/0xa0 [ 7.355593] ksmbd_conn_alloc+0x44/0x6d0 [ 7.355711] ksmbd_kthread_fn+0x243/0xd70 [ 7.355839] kthread+0x346/0x470 [ 7.355942] ret_from_fork+0x4fb/0x6c0 [ 7.356051] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 7.356164] [ 7.356214] Freed by task 134: [ 7.356305] kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 [ 7.356416] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 7.356527] kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x60 [ 7.356646] __kasan_slab_free+0x43/0x70 [ 7.356761] kfree+0x1ca/0x430 [ 7.356862] ksmbd_tcp_disconnect+0x59/0xe0 [ 7.356993] ksmbd_conn_handler_loop+0x77e/0xd40 [ 7.357138] kthread+0x346/0x470 [ 7.357240] ret_from_fork+0x4fb/0x6c0 [ 7.357350] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 7.357463] [ 7.357513] The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff8881056ac000 [ 7.357513] which belongs to the cache kmalloc-1k of size 1024 [ 7.357857] The buggy address is located 396 bytes inside of [ 7.357857] freed 1024-byte region ---truncated---
Weakness: CWE-416
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23427?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-23427?
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-2026-23427 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23427 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-23427, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23427, GHSA-vrjp-x986-3fqm, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23427, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23427.