VulnerabilityPublished 4 Feb 2026Updated 19 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-23060: Linux kernel · NULL Pointer Dereference

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · fixed in fee86edf5803f1d1f19e3b4f2dacac241bddfa48 : patch Linux kernel soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:30 UTC

Severity

High

Rated High by Threat Radar's AI analysis · No CVSS score from NVD or the CNA

EPSS

0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 7% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

Exploitation: No evidence of active exploitation and no public proof of concept
Automatable: Attackers cannot reliably automate steps 1–4 of the kill chain
Technical impact: Limited control over the software or limited information exposure

CISA SSVC assessment, 2026-06-10.

Patch

Available – fixed in fee86edf5803f1d1f19e3b4f2dacac241bddfa48, df22c9a65e9a9daa368a72fed596af9d7d5876bb, b0a9609283a5c852addb513dafa655c61eebc1ef +4

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 104880a6b470958ddc30e139c41aa4f6ed3a5234, < fee86edf5803f1d1f19e3b4f2dacac241bddfa48	Fixed in fee86edf5803f1d1f19e3b4f2dacac241bddfa48
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 104880a6b470958ddc30e139c41aa4f6ed3a5234, < df22c9a65e9a9daa368a72fed596af9d7d5876bb	Fixed in df22c9a65e9a9daa368a72fed596af9d7d5876bb
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 104880a6b470958ddc30e139c41aa4f6ed3a5234, < b0a9609283a5c852addb513dafa655c61eebc1ef	Fixed in b0a9609283a5c852addb513dafa655c61eebc1ef
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 104880a6b470958ddc30e139c41aa4f6ed3a5234, < 9532ff0d0e90ff78a214299f594ab9bac81defe4	Fixed in 9532ff0d0e90ff78a214299f594ab9bac81defe4
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 104880a6b470958ddc30e139c41aa4f6ed3a5234, < 2397e9264676be7794f8f7f1e9763d90bd3c7335	Fixed in 2397e9264676be7794f8f7f1e9763d90bd3c7335
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 104880a6b470958ddc30e139c41aa4f6ed3a5234, < 767e8349f7e929b7dd95c08f0b4cb353459b365e	Fixed in 767e8349f7e929b7dd95c08f0b4cb353459b365e

AI-suggested

A fix is available in the Linux kernel commits identified by the fixedVersions hashes. Users should update their Linux kernel to a version including these commits to mitigate this vulnerability. There is no indication that any additional mitigation is required beyond applying the official fix.

Description

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's crypto authencesn module allows a NULL pointer dereference leading to a kernel panic (DoS) when processing too-short Additional Authenticated Data (AAD) inputs shorter than 8 bytes. This occurs because the function crypto_authenc_esn_decrypt() assumes an ESP/ESN-formatted AAD and does not properly validate the minimum length, causing out-of-bounds memory access.

Impact

Successful exploitation results in a denial of service via a kernel panic caused by a NULL pointer dereference. This disrupts system availability but does not indicate privilege escalation or data compromise based on the provided information.

Summary

CVE-2026-23060 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in the Linux kernel's crypto authencesn implementation. The flaw arises when the Additional Authenticated Data (AAD) length (assoclen) is less than 8 bytes, violating the ESP/ESN specification. The function crypto_authenc_esn_decrypt() then advances beyond the destination scatterlist boundary, triggering a NULL pointer dereference in scatterwalk_map_and_copy(), which causes a kernel panic. The issue is resolved by adding a minimum AAD length check to reject invalid inputs early.

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumCWE Top 25 (2025): #13OWASP Top 10 A10:2025: Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions (opens in a new tab)
The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
Implementation
For any pointers that could have been modified or provided from a function that can return NULL, check the pointer for NULL before use. When working with a multithreaded or otherwise asynchronous environment, ensure that proper locking APIs are used to lock before the check, and unlock when it has finished.
Requirements
Select a programming language that is not susceptible to these issues.
Implementation
Check the results of all functions that return a value and verify that the value is non-null before acting upon it.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V11.1.7 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Oct 2026, 15:48 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-476

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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