# CVE-2026-53287: audit: fix incorrect inheritable capability in CAPSET records

> Attackers can mask privilege escalation attempts in audit logs due to incorrect capability recording, compromising forensic analysis and compliance monitoring.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 26 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 26 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-53287, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53287, GHSA-7w44-35gq-6jc3, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-53287, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-53287, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-53287, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-53287, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53287

## What is CVE-2026-53287?

CVE-2026-53287 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 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:

audit: fix incorrect inheritable capability in CAPSET records

__audit_log_capset() records the effective capability set into the
inheritable field due to a copy-paste error. Every CAPSET audit
record therefore reports cap_pi (process inheritable) with the value
of cap_effective instead of cap_inheritable.

This silently corrupts audit data used for compliance and forensic
analysis: an attacker who modifies inheritable capabilities to
prepare for a privilege-escalating exec would have the change masked
in the audit trail.

The bug has been present since the original introduction of CAPSET
audit records in 2008.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53287?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-53287?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-53287 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53287 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-2026-53287 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-53287 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 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-2026-53287 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-2026-53287/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53287/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53287
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53287
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-53287

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53287/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.