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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-23159: Linux kernel · perf: sched: Fix perf crash with new is_user_task() helper

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium · fixed in 6.8.0-1057.60~22.04.1 : update Linux kernel when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
5.5Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 2% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 6.8.0-1057.60~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1059.65~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1060.63~22.04.1 +33
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 14 Feb 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Ubuntu 25.10linuxpkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=questingOther threatsAffected
  • 6.14.0-15.15 – 6.17.0-40.40
20 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 25.10linux-awspkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=questingOther threatsAffected
  • 6.14.0-1005.5 – 6.17.0-1019.19
17 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 25.10linux-azurepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=questingOther threatsAffected
  • 6.14.0-1004.4 – 6.17.0-1020.20
16 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 25.10linux-azure-fdepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde?arch=source&distro=questingOther threatsAffected
  • 6.17.0-1003.3 – 6.17.0-1017.17
10 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 25.10linux-gcppkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp?arch=source&distro=questingOther threatsAffected
  • 6.14.0-1006.6 – 6.17.0-1020.22
17 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 25.10linux-oraclepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-oracle?arch=source&distro=questingOther threatsAffected
  • 6.14.0-1005.5 – 6.17.0-1018.18
16 affected builds
Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf: sched: Fix perf crash with new is_user_task() helper In order to do a user space stacktrace the current task needs to be a user task that has executed in user space. It use to be possible to test if a task is a user task or not by simply checking the task_struct mm field. If it was non NULL, it was a user task and if not it was a kernel task. But things have changed over time, and some kernel tasks now have their own mm field. An idea was made to instead test PF_KTHREAD and two functions were used to wrap this check in case it became more complex to test if a task was a user task or not[1]. But this was rejected and the C code simply checked the PF_KTHREAD directly. It was later found that not all kernel threads set PF_KTHREAD. The io-uring helpers instead set PF_USER_WORKER and this needed to be added as well. But checking the flags is still not enough. There's a very small window when a task exits that it frees its mm field and it is set back to NULL. If perf were to trigger at this moment, the flags test would say its a user space task but when perf would read the mm field it would crash with at NULL pointer dereference. Now there are flags that can be used to test if a task is exiting, but they are set in areas that perf may still want to profile the user space task (to see where it exited). The only real test is to check both the flags and the mm field. Instead of making this modification in every location, create a new is_user_task() helper function that does all the tests needed to know if it is safe to read the user space memory or not. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250425204120.639530125@goodmis.org/

References

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