VDB-352996 · CVE-2026-23281 · Nessus 311783

Linux Kernel up to 7.0-rc1 lbs_free_adapter use after free

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
7.7	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.0-rc1. The affected element is the function lbs_free_adapter. Executing a manipulation can lead to use after free. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-23281. There is not any exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.0-rc1. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects the function lbs_free_adapter. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: libertas: fix use-after-free in lbs_free_adapter() The lbs_free_adapter() function uses timer_delete() (non-synchronous) for both command_timer and tx_lockup_timer before the structure is freed. This is incorrect because timer_delete() does not wait for any running timer callback to complete. If a timer callback is executing when lbs_free_adapter() is called, the callback will access freed memory since lbs_cfg_free() frees the containing structure immediately after lbs_free_adapter() returns. Both timer callbacks (lbs_cmd_timeout_handler and lbs_tx_lockup_handler) access priv->driver_lock, priv->cur_cmd, priv->dev, and other fields, which would all be use-after-free violations. Use timer_delete_sync() instead to ensure any running timer callback has completed before returning. This bug was introduced in commit 8f641d93c38a ("libertas: detect TX lockups and reset hardware") where del_timer() was used instead of del_timer_sync() in the cleanup path. The command_timer has had the same issue since the driver was first written.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-23281 since 01/13/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 07/01/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 311783 (Debian dla-4561 : linux-config-6.1 - security update), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.18.17, 6.19.7 or 7.0-rc2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 3f9dec4a6d95d7f1f5e9e9dfdfa173c053bba8dc/3c5c818c78b03a1725f3dcd566865c77b48dd3a6/d0155fe68f31b339961cf2d4f92937d57e9384e6/ed7d30f90b77f73a47498686ede83f622b7e4f0d/a9f55b14486426d907459bced5825a25063bd922/03cc8f90d0537fcd4985c3319b4fafbf2e3fb1f0 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 (311783) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0861). Once again VulDB remains the best source 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
Open Source Linux Kernel
RESF Rocky Linux
F5 BIG-IP

Productinfo

Type

Operating System

Vendor

Linux

Name

Kernel

Version

License

open-source

Website

Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.7

VulDB Base Score: 8.0
VulDB Temp Score: 7.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 7.8
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
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Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒