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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-68178: Linux kernel · Use After Free

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High · fixed in 1996639f824ce9468395cdb7bcb8f467fa787e77 : patch Linux kernel soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:18 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 5% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CISA SSVC
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
Total control over the software or total information disclosure

CISA SSVC assessment, 2026-10-16.

Patch
Available – fixed in 1996639f824ce9468395cdb7bcb8f467fa787e77, 9e9a82d00c3d10129fc310a7547b24a679d5d920, 3b231f1e9990f4c21220d0a69733ce2105891ff9 +1
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 10 Aug 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 Linux kernel to 1996639f824ce9468395cdb7bcb8f467fa787e77, 9e9a82d00c3d10129fc310a7547b24a679d5d920, 3b231f1e9990f4c21220d0a69733ce2105891ff9 or 1da310b94504d42001e9c32c43c5dc105b777e5f.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • ≥ b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749, < 1996639f824ce9468395cdb7bcb8f467fa787e77
Fixed in
  • 1996639f824ce9468395cdb7bcb8f467fa787e77
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • ≥ b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749, < 9e9a82d00c3d10129fc310a7547b24a679d5d920
Fixed in
  • 9e9a82d00c3d10129fc310a7547b24a679d5d920
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • ≥ b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749, < 3b231f1e9990f4c21220d0a69733ce2105891ff9
Fixed in
  • 3b231f1e9990f4c21220d0a69733ce2105891ff9
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • ≥ b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749, < 1da310b94504d42001e9c32c43c5dc105b777e5f
Fixed in
  • 1da310b94504d42001e9c32c43c5dc105b777e5f
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • =6.8
Fixed in–

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: misc: nsm: pin the module while the device is open misc_open() installs a misc driver's file operations with fops_get(), which pins file_operations::owner before replacing the file's f_op. The NSM misc device leaves nsm_dev_fops.owner unset, so opening /dev/nsm does not take a module reference on the nsm driver. If the driver is built as a module, an open file descriptor can therefore survive rmmod of the module that provides its ioctl callbacks. A later ioctl through that descriptor can call into unloaded module text. Set nsm_dev_fops.owner to THIS_MODULE so the misc core holds the module while any /dev/nsm file descriptor is open, matching the lifetime expectation for the installed file operations.

References

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