Linux Kernel up to 6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2 landlock current_check_refer_path 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.
8.4	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2. This affects the function current_check_refer_path of the component landlock. Such manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2026-97594. The attack can only be performed from a local environment. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2. Affected by this issue is the function current_check_refer_path of the component landlock. 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. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: landlock: Fix use-after-free of the source's parent directory current_check_refer_path() reads old_dentry->d_parent without holding a reference nor a lock on it, and then dereferences it in collect_domain_accesses() and in the audit record. A reference on a child does not pin its parent: __d_move() reassigns dentry->d_parent and drops the reference the child held on its former parent. hook_path_rename() is not affected because the rename path calls lock_rename() before the hook, so the source cannot be reparented under it. hook_path_link() has no such protection: filename_linkat() holds a reference on the source dentry but neither locks nor references its parent, so a concurrent rename(2) can reparent the source while security_path_link() runs, and the former parent can then be removed and freed while the hook walks it. A process can trigger this after entering a Landlock domain that handles at least one filesystem access right. The process can then race a linkat(2) loop against rename(2) and rmdir(2): BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in collect_domain_accesses+0x278/0x290 Read of size 4 at addr ffff888160bd53f4 by task llrepro2/549 collect_domain_accesses+0x278/0x290 current_check_refer_path+0x952/0x1120 security_path_link+0x1be/0x320 filename_linkat+0x342/0x6d0 __x64_sys_linkat+0xfa/0x150 Freed by task 562: kmem_cache_free+0x139/0x4c0 i_callback+0x4b/0x80 rcu_core+0x7dc/0x10a0 Take a reference on the dentry selected as the source parent, using dget() for the common-mount-root case and dget_parent() otherwise. Release it after the hierarchy walk and synchronous audit logging. [mic: Clarify the caller, reachability, and reference handling]

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-97594 since 09/24/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. 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 09/25/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.53, 7.2.7 or 7.3-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 379efd2ce8b26fd35feb13ccc2f671ff105a5052/ba29c46ccfe3ebadfb8aa18149186c49f84b14f8/2c6dc792538260a8087ac5b22c31b3b8e47c85d6 is able to eliminate this problem. 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
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 6.18.52
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2

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: 8.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.4

VulDB Base Score: 8.8
VulDB Temp Score: 8.4
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

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: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.18.53/7.2.7/7.3-rc3
Patch: 379efd2ce8b26fd35feb13ccc2f671ff105a5052/ba29c46ccfe3ebadfb8aa18149186c49f84b14f8/2c6dc792538260a8087ac5b22c31b3b8e47c85d6

Timelineinfo

09/24/2026 CVE reserved
09/25/2026 +1 days Advisory disclosed
09/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-97594 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-97594
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-410060

Entryinfo

Created: 09/25/2026 14:15
Changes: 09/25/2026 14:15 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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