Skip to main content
VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-52923: Linux kernel · ipc: limit next_id allocation to the valid ID range

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

0
Authoritative record:CVE-2026-52923· High 7.8

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High · fixed in 5.15.0-1117.124~20.04.1 : patch Linux kernel soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 13:47 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 11% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 5.15.0-1117.124~20.04.1, 5.15.0-1123.132~20.04.1, 5.15.0-1122.131~20.04.1 +67
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 24 Jun 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 26.04 LTSlinuxpkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • <7.0.0-28.28
Fixed in
  • 7.0.0-28.28
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-awspkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • <7.0.0-1009.9
Fixed in
  • 7.0.0-1009.9
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azurepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • <7.0.0-1010.10
Fixed in
  • 7.0.0-1010.10
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure-fdepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • <7.0.0-1009.9
Fixed in
  • 7.0.0-1009.9
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gcppkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • <7.0.0-1008.8
Fixed in
  • 7.0.0-1008.8
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gkepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gke?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • <7.0.0-1003.4
Fixed in
  • 7.0.0-1003.4

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: ipc: limit next_id allocation to the valid ID range The checkpoint/restore sysctl path can request the next SysV IPC id through ids->next_id. ipc_idr_alloc() currently forwards that request to idr_alloc() with an open-ended upper bound. If the valid tail of the SysV IPC id space is full, the allocation can spill beyond ipc_mni. The returned SysV IPC id still uses the normal index encoding, so later lookup and removal can target the wrong slot. This leaves the real IDR entry behind and breaks the IDR state for the object. The bug is in ipc_idr_alloc() in the checkpoint/restore path. 1. ids->next_id is passed to: idr_alloc(&ids->ipcs_idr, new, ipcid_to_idx(next_id), 0, ...) 2. The zero upper bound makes the allocation effectively open-ended. Once the valid SysV IPC tail is occupied, idr_alloc() can spill past ipc_mni and allocate an entry beyond the valid IPC id range. 3. The new object id is still encoded with the narrower SysV IPC index width: new->id = (new->seq << ipcmni_seq_shift()) + idx 4. Later removal goes through ipc_rmid(), which uses: ipcid_to_idx(ipcp->id) That truncates the real IDR index. An object actually stored at a high index can then be removed as if it lived at a low in-range index. 5. For shared memory, shm_destroy() frees the current object anyway, but the real high IDR slot is left behind as a dangling pointer. 6. A subsequent walk of /proc/sysvipc/shm reaches the stale IDR entry and dereferences freed memory. Prevent this by bounding the requested allocation to ipc_mni so the checkpoint/restore path fails once the valid range is exhausted.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…