Linux Kernel up to 6.18.35/7.0.12 net phonet_device_destroy use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.35/7.0.12. This vulnerability affects the function phonet_device_destroy of the component net. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-53157. There is no exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.35/7.0.12 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function phonet_device_destroy of the component net. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: phonet: free phonet_device after RCU grace period phonet_device_destroy() removes a phonet_device from the per-net device list with list_del_rcu(), but frees it immediately. RCU readers walking the same list can still hold a pointer to the object after it has been removed, leading to a slab-use-after-free. Use kfree_rcu(), matching the lifetime rule already used by phonet_address_del() for the same object type.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-53157 since 06/09/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 06/25/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.36 or 7.0.13 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 52b8f5ef82c886f7cd24617915e4b1579ddfd001/bff309ea51f1395c1ef8be8b75ce62d28a319113/71de0177b28da751f407581a4515cf4d762f6296 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.

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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
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 7.0.0
• 7.0.1
• 7.0.2
• 7.0.3
• 7.0.4
• 7.0.5
• 7.0.6
• 7.0.7
• 7.0.8
• 7.0.9
• 7.0.10
• 7.0.11
• 7.0.12

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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