# CVE-2026-53005: af_unix: Drop all SCM attributes for SOCKMAP.

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's AF_UNIX SOCKMAP implementation allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges.

- **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:** 24 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-90540, BELL-CVE-2026-53005, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53005, GHSA-6qfx-pmxg-8gxp, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-53005, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-53005, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-53005, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-53005, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53005

## What is CVE-2026-53005?

CVE-2026-53005 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.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

af_unix: Drop all SCM attributes for SOCKMAP.

SOCKMAP can hide inflight fd from AF_UNIX GC.

When a socket in SOCKMAP receives skb with inflight fd,
sk_psock_verdict_data_ready() looks up the mapped socket and
enqueue skb to its psock->ingress_skb.

Since neither the old nor the new GC can inspect the psock
queue, the hidden skb leaks the inflight sockets.  Note that
this cannot be detected via kmemleak because inflight sockets
are linked to a global list.

In addition, SOCKMAP redirect breaks the Tarjan-based GC's
assumption that unix_edge.successor is always alive, which
is no longer true once skb is redirected, resulting in
use-after-free below. [0]

Moreover, SOCKMAP does not call scm_stat_del() properly,
so unix_show_fdinfo() could report an incorrect fd count.

sk_msg_recvmsg() does not support any SCM attributes in the
first place.

Let's drop all SCM attributes before passing skb to the
SOCKMAP layer.

[0]:
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in unix_del_edges (net/unix/garbage.c:118 net/unix/garbage.c:181 net/unix/garbage.c:251)
Read of size 8 at addr ffff888125362670 by task kworker/56:1/496

CPU: 56 UID: 0 PID: 496 Comm: kworker/56:1 Not tainted 7.0.0-rc7-00263-gb9d8b856689d #3 PREEMPT(lazy)
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.17.0-debian-1.17.0-1 04/01/2014
Workqueue: events sk_psock_backlog
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 dump_stack_lvl (lib/dump_stack.c:122)
 print_report (mm/kasan/report.c:379)
 kasan_report (mm/kasan/report.c:597)
 unix_del_edges (net/unix/garbage.c:118 net/unix/garbage.c:181 net/unix/garbage.c:251)
 unix_destroy_fpl (net/unix/garbage.c:317)
 unix_destruct_scm (./include/net/scm.h:80 ./include/net/scm.h:86 net/unix/af_unix.c:1976)
 sk_psock_backlog (./include/linux/skbuff.h:?)
 process_scheduled_works (kernel/workqueue.c:?)
 worker_thread (kernel/workqueue.c:?)
 kthread (kernel/kthread.c:438)
 ret_from_fork (arch/x86/kernel/process.c:164)
 ret_from_fork_asm (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:258)
 </TASK>

Allocated by task 955:
 kasan_save_track (mm/kasan/common.c:58 mm/kasan/common.c:78)
 __kasan_slab_alloc (mm/kasan/common.c:369)
 kmem_cache_alloc_noprof (mm/slub.c:4539)
 sk_prot_alloc (net/core/sock.c:2240)
 sk_alloc (net/core/sock.c:2301)
 unix_create1 (net/unix/af_unix.c:1099)
 unix_create (net/unix/af_unix.c:1169)
 __sock_create (net/socket.c:1606)
 __sys_socketpair (net/socket.c:1811)
 __x64_sys_socketpair (net/socket.c:1863 net/socket.c:1860 net/socket.c:1860)
 do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:?)
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:130)

Freed by task 496:
 kasan_save_track (mm/kasan/common.c:58 mm/kasan/common.c:78)
 kasan_save_free_info (mm/kasan/generic.c:587)
 __kasan_slab_free (mm/kasan/common.c:287)
 kmem_cache_free (mm/slub.c:6165)
 __sk_destruct (net/core/sock.c:2282 net/core/sock.c:2384)
 sk_psock_destroy (./include/net/sock.h:?)
 process_scheduled_works (kernel/workqueue.c:?)
 worker_thread (kernel/workqueue.c:?)
 kthread (kernel/kthread.c:438)
 ret_from_fork (arch/x86/kernel/process.c:164)
 ret_from_fork_asm (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:258)

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53005?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-53005?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-53005 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53005 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-2026-53005 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-53005 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53005 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-2026-53005/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53005/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53005
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53005
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-53005

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53005/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.