{"answers":{"affected":"It affects 1 product.","exploited":"There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-52991 in the wild and no public exploit code.","fix":"Apply the vendor's patch.","what":"CVE-2026-52991 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Jun 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim."},"fix_prompt":"Check this codebase for CVE-2026-52991 and fix it if it is affected.\n\nWhat it is: CVE-2026-52991 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Jun 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.\nExploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-52991 in the wild and no public exploit code.\n\nAffected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.\n\nTask:\n1. 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.\n2. 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.\n3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.\n4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.\n5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.\n\nReference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-52991/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-52991/index.md)","id":"CVE-2026-52991","markdown":"https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-52991/index.md","name":"CVE-2026-52991","record":{"aliases":["AZL-90497","BELL-CVE-2026-52991","DEBIAN-CVE-2026-52991","GHSA-3v2r-c9x3-5fgr","ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-52991","ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-52991","ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-52991","ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-52991","ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-52991","UBUNTU-CVE-2026-52991"],"analysis":{"component_type":"kernel","fix_type":"patch","impacts":["code_execution","privilege_escalation"],"network_reachable":"adjacent_or_local","non_default_config":false,"product_category":"Linux kernel","requires_auth":"low_privilege","summary":"A race condition in the Linux kernel's PSI subsystem allows a use-after-free, potentially enabling local attackers to execute code or escalate privileges.","user_interaction":"not_required","vuln_class":"use_after_free"},"analysis_generated_by":"qwen3.8-flash-next","assigner":"Linux","cpe":[{"product":"linux_kernel","vendor":"linux"}],"cvss":{"score":7.8,"severity":"high","source":"cna","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","version":"3.1"},"cwes":[{"id":"CWE-362","name":"Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization"},{"id":"CWE-367","name":"Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition"}],"description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nsched/psi: fix race between file release and pressure write\n\nA potential race condition exists between pressure write and cgroup file\nrelease regarding the priv member of struct kernfs_open_file, which\ntriggers the uaf reported in [1].\n\nConsider the following scenario involving execution on two separate CPUs:\n\n   CPU0\t\t\t\t\tCPU1\n   ====\t\t\t\t\t====\n\t\t\t\t\tvfs_rmdir()\n\t\t\t\t\tkernfs_iop_rmdir()\n\t\t\t\t\tcgroup_rmdir()\n\t\t\t\t\tcgroup_kn_lock_live()\n\t\t\t\t\tcgroup_destroy_locked()\n\t\t\t\t\tcgroup_addrm_files()\n\t\t\t\t\tcgroup_rm_file()\n\t\t\t\t\tkernfs_remove_by_name()\n\t\t\t\t\tkernfs_remove_by_name_ns()\n vfs_write()\t\t\t\t__kernfs_remove()\n new_sync_write()\t\t\tkernfs_drain()\n kernfs_fop_write_iter()\t\tkernfs_drain_open_files()\n cgroup_file_write()\t\t\tkernfs_release_file()\n pressure_write()\t\t\tcgroup_file_release()\n ctx = of-\u003epriv;\n\t\t\t\t\tkfree(ctx);\n \t\t\t\t\tof-\u003epriv = NULL;\n\t\t\t\t\tcgroup_kn_unlock()\n cgroup_kn_lock_live()\n cgroup_get(cgrp)\n cgroup_kn_unlock()\n if (ctx-\u003epsi.trigger)  // here, trigger uaf for ctx, that is of-\u003epriv\n\nThe cgroup_rmdir() is protected by the cgroup_mutex, it also safeguards\nthe memory deallocation of of-\u003epriv performed within cgroup_file_release().\nHowever, the operations involving of-\u003epriv executed within pressure_write()\nare not entirely covered by the protection of cgroup_mutex. Consequently,\nif the code in pressure_write(), specifically the section handling the\nctx variable executes after cgroup_file_release() has completed, a uaf\nvulnerability involving of-\u003epriv is triggered.\n\nTherefore, the issue can be resolved by extending the scope of the\ncgroup_mutex lock within pressure_write() to encompass all code paths\ninvolving of-\u003epriv, thereby properly synchronizing the race condition\noccurring between cgroup_file_release() and pressure_write().\n\nAnd, if an live kn lock can be successfully acquired while executing\nthe pressure write operation, it indicates that the cgroup deletion\nprocess has not yet reached its final stage; consequently, the priv\npointer within open_file cannot be NULL. Therefore, the operation to\nretrieve the ctx value must be moved to a point *after* the live kn\nlock has been successfully acquired.\n\nIn another situation, specifically after entering cgroup_kn_lock_live()\nbut before acquiring cgroup_mutex, there exists a different class of\nrace condition:\n\nCPU0: write memory.pressure               CPU1: write cgroup.pressure=0\n===========================\t\t  =============================\n\nkernfs_fop_write_iter()\n kernfs_get_active_of(of)\n pressure_write()\n   cgroup_kn_lock_live(memory.pressure)\n     cgroup_tryget(cgrp)\n     kernfs_break_active_protection(kn)\n     ... blocks on cgroup_mutex\n\n                                     \t  cgroup_pressure_write()\n                                     \t  cgroup_kn_lock_live(cgroup.pressure)\n                                     \t  cgroup_file_show(memory.pressure, false)\n                                     \t    kernfs_show(false)\n                                     \t      kernfs_drain_open_files()\n                                     \t        cgroup_file_release(of)\n                                     \t          kfree(ctx)\n                                     \t            of-\u003epriv = NULL\n                                     \t  cgroup_kn_unlock()\n\n   ... acquires cgroup_mutex\n   ctx = of-\u003epriv;        // may now be NULL\n   if (ctx-\u003epsi.trigger)  // NULL dereference\n\nConsequently, there is a possibility that of-\u003epriv is NULL, the pressure\nwrite needs to check for this.\n\nNow that the scope of the cgroup_mutex has been expanded, the original\nexplicit cgroup_get/put operations are no longer necessary, this is\nbecause acquiring/releasing the live kn lock inherently executes a\ncgroup get/put operation.\n\n[1]\nBUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in pressure_write+0xa4/0x210 kernel/cgroup/cgroup.c:4011\nCall Trace:\n pressure_write+0xa4/0x210 kernel/cgroup/cgroup.c:4011\n cgroup_file_write+0x36f/0x790 kernel/cgroup/cgroup.c:43\n---truncated---","ecosystems":[],"exploits":{"exploitdb":0,"first_seen":null,"github_poc":0,"max_poc_stars":null,"metasploit":0,"nuclei":0,"refs":[],"tier":"none_known"},"has_fix":true,"headline":"sched/psi: fix race between file release and pressure write","id":"CVE-2026-52991","indexable":true,"kev":null,"kind":"cve","links":{"ecosystem":null,"product":"linux:linux_kernel","products":["linux:linux_kernel"],"type":"use_after_free","year":"2026"},"n_packages":0,"n_references":5,"next":{"headline":"fs/adfs: validate nzones in adfs_validate_bblk()","id":"CVE-2026-52992"},"packages":[],"prev":{"headline":"fsnotify: fix inode reference leak in fsnotify_recalc_mask()","id":"CVE-2026-52990"},"products":["Linux"],"published":"2026-06-24","related":[{"cvss_score":8.8,"headline":"Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write","id":"CVE-2026-53266","kev_date_added":"2026-09-18","published":"2026-06-25"},{"cvss_score":8.8,"headline":"Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation","id":"CVE-2013-6282","kev_date_added":"2022-09-15","published":"2013-11-19"},{"cvss_score":8.4,"headline":"Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow","id":"CVE-2022-0185","kev_date_added":"2024-08-21","published":"2022-02-11"},{"cvss_score":8.4,"headline":"Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation","id":"CVE-2013-2094","kev_date_added":"2022-09-15","published":"2013-05-14"},{"cvss_score":7.8,"headline":"Linux Kernel Unspecified","id":"CVE-2026-53362","kev_date_added":"2026-08-27","published":"2026-07-04"},{"cvss_score":7.8,"headline":"Linux Kernel Missing Initialization of a Variable","id":"CVE-2026-46300","kev_date_added":"2026-10-28","published":"2026-05-23"},{"cvss_score":7.8,"headline":"Linux Kernel Race Condition","id":"CVE-2025-39964","kev_date_added":"2026-09-18","published":"2025-10-13"}],"sources":[{"class":"attribution","licence":"CVE Terms of Use (MITRE)","name":"CVE List","prefix":"CVE"},{"class":"attribution","licence":"US public information, NVD API terms","name":"NVD"},{"class":"attribution","licence":"CWE Terms of Use","name":"CWE (MITRE)"},{"class":"attribution","licence":"FIRST CVSS licence","name":"CVSS (FIRST)"}],"ssvc":{"automatable":"no","exploitation":"none","technical_impact":"total"},"state":"PUBLISHED","updated":"2026-10-21","vendors":["Linux"]},"summary":"A race condition in the Linux kernel's PSI subsystem allows a use-after-free, potentially enabling local attackers to execute code or escalate privileges.","url":"https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-52991/"}