Linux Kernel up to 6.12.69/6.18.9 procfs __kernel_read reference count

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.69/6.18.9 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is the function __kernel_read of the component procfs. Performing a manipulation results in reference count. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-23199. There is no available exploit. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.69/6.18.9. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function __kernel_read of the component procfs. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a reference count vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-911. The product uses a reference count to manage a resource, but it does not update or incorrectly updates the reference count. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: procfs: avoid fetching build ID while holding VMA lock Fix PROCMAP_QUERY to fetch optional build ID only after dropping mmap_lock or per-VMA lock, whichever was used to lock VMA under question, to avoid deadlock reported by syzbot: -> #1 (&mm->mmap_lock){++++}-{4:4}: __might_fault+0xed/0x170 _copy_to_iter+0x118/0x1720 copy_page_to_iter+0x12d/0x1e0 filemap_read+0x720/0x10a0 blkdev_read_iter+0x2b5/0x4e0 vfs_read+0x7f4/0xae0 ksys_read+0x12a/0x250 do_syscall_64+0xcb/0xf80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f -> #0 (&sb->s_type->i_mutex_key#8){++++}-{4:4}: __lock_acquire+0x1509/0x26d0 lock_acquire+0x185/0x340 down_read+0x98/0x490 blkdev_read_iter+0x2a7/0x4e0 __kernel_read+0x39a/0xa90 freader_fetch+0x1d5/0xa80 __build_id_parse.isra.0+0xea/0x6a0 do_procmap_query+0xd75/0x1050 procfs_procmap_ioctl+0x7a/0xb0 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x18e/0x210 do_syscall_64+0xcb/0xf80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f other info that might help us debug this: Possible unsafe locking scenario: CPU0 CPU1 ---- ---- rlock(&mm->mmap_lock); lock(&sb->s_type->i_mutex_key#8); lock(&mm->mmap_lock); rlock(&sb->s_type->i_mutex_key#8); *** DEADLOCK *** This seems to be exacerbated (as we haven't seen these syzbot reports before that) by the recent: 777a8560fd29 ("lib/buildid: use __kernel_read() for sleepable context") To make this safe, we need to grab file refcount while VMA is still locked, but other than that everything is pretty straightforward. Internal build_id_parse() API assumes VMA is passed, but it only needs the underlying file reference, so just add another variant build_id_parse_file() that expects file passed directly. [[email protected]: fix up kerneldoc]

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-23199 since 01/13/2026. The exploitability is told to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 299123 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23199), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.70 or 6.18.10 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch b9b97e6aeb534315f9646b2090d1a5024c6a4e82/cbc03ce3e6ce7e21214c3f02218213574c1a2d08/b5cbacd7f86f4f62b8813688c8e73be94e8e1951 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 (299123) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0421). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Google Cloud Platform
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• IBM QRadar SIEM

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.12.60
• 6.12.61
• 6.12.62
• 6.12.63
• 6.12.64
• 6.12.65
• 6.12.66
• 6.12.67
• 6.12.68
• 6.12.69
• 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/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Discussion