# 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.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 3 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **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

## 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 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23427?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23427?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## 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

- [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-2026-23427 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23427 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-2026-23427/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23427/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23427
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23427
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23427

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23427/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
