Linux Kernel up to 6.12.76/6.18.16/6.19.6/7.0-rc2 tracing_buffers_mmap_close reference count

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.76/6.18.16/6.19.6/7.0-rc2. This issue affects the function tracing_buffers_mmap_close. Executing a manipulation can lead to reference count. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-23380. There is no exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.76/6.18.16/6.19.6/7.0-rc2. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects the function tracing_buffers_mmap_close. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a reference count vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-911. The product uses a reference count to manage a resource, but it does not update or incorrectly updates the reference count. As an impact it is known to affect availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing: Fix WARN_ON in tracing_buffers_mmap_close When a process forks, the child process copies the parent's VMAs but the user_mapped reference count is not incremented. As a result, when both the parent and child processes exit, tracing_buffers_mmap_close() is called twice. On the second call, user_mapped is already 0, causing the function to return -ENODEV and triggering a WARN_ON. Normally, this isn't an issue as the memory is mapped with VM_DONTCOPY set. But this is only a hint, and the application can call madvise(MADVISE_DOFORK) which resets the VM_DONTCOPY flag. When the application does that, it can trigger this issue on fork. Fix it by incrementing the user_mapped reference count without re-mapping the pages in the VMA's open callback.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-23380 since 01/13/2026. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 303608 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23380), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.77, 6.18.17, 6.19.7 or 7.0-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 91f3e8d84c89918769e71393f839c9fefadc2580/cdd96641b64297a2db42676f051362b76280a58b/b0f269ba6fefe9e3cb9feedcf78fcd0b633800c0/e39bb9e02b68942f8e9359d2a3efe7d37ae6be0e 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 (303608) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0861). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Affected

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

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
• 6.12.70
• 6.12.71
• 6.12.72
• 6.12.73
• 6.12.74
• 6.12.75
• 6.12.76
• 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
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.19.0
• 6.19.1
• 6.19.2
• 6.19.3
• 6.19.4
• 6.19.5
• 6.19.6
• 7.0-rc1
• 7.0-rc2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

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