Linux Kernel up to 6.18.9 binder binder_netlink_report use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.9. The affected element is the function binder_netlink_report of the component binder. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2026-23184. No exploit exists. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.9. This affects the function binder_netlink_report of the component binder. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: binder: fix UAF in binder_netlink_report() Oneway transactions sent to frozen targets via binder_proc_transaction() return a BR_TRANSACTION_PENDING_FROZEN error but they are still treated as successful since the target is expected to thaw at some point. It is then not safe to access 't' after BR_TRANSACTION_PENDING_FROZEN errors as the transaction could have been consumed by the now thawed target. This is the case for binder_netlink_report() which derreferences 't' after a pending frozen error, as pointed out by the following KASAN report: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in binder_netlink_report.isra.0+0x694/0x6c8 Read of size 8 at addr ffff00000f98ba38 by task binder-util/522 CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 522 Comm: binder-util Not tainted 6.19.0-rc6-00015-gc03e9c42ae8f #1 PREEMPT Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) Call trace: binder_netlink_report.isra.0+0x694/0x6c8 binder_transaction+0x66e4/0x79b8 binder_thread_write+0xab4/0x4440 binder_ioctl+0x1fd4/0x2940 [...] Allocated by task 522: __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x17c/0x50c binder_transaction+0x584/0x79b8 binder_thread_write+0xab4/0x4440 binder_ioctl+0x1fd4/0x2940 [...] Freed by task 488: kfree+0x1d0/0x420 binder_free_transaction+0x150/0x234 binder_thread_read+0x2d08/0x3ce4 binder_ioctl+0x488/0x2940 [...] ================================================================== Instead, make a transaction copy so the data can be safely accessed by binder_netlink_report() after a pending frozen error. While here, add a comment about not using t->buffer in binder_netlink_report().

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-23184 since 01/13/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 04/13/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 299093 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23184), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.18.10 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch a6050dedb6f1cc23e518e3a132ab74a0aad6df90/5e8a3d01544282e50d887d76f30d1496a0a53562 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (299093) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0421). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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