⚠ Reference material — not professional advice. Test in staging, back up first, verify against your specific version. Use your own judgment for your environment.
● High · CVSS 7

How to Fix CVE-2026-23195: Critical Vulnerability in Linux

Other vulnerabilities in the same area that are worth patching alongside this one:

*By Sai Kiran Pandrala*

⚡ At a glance
SeverityCVSS 7 - High
Actively exploited?Not currently listed in CISA KEV
Affectedb168ed458ddecc176f3b9a1f4bcd83d7a4541c14 < d3081353acaa6a638dcf75726066ea556a2de8d5, b168ed458ddecc176f3b9a1f4bcd83d7a4541c14 < 99a2ef500906138ba58093b9893972a5c303c734, 6.14
Fixed in0, 6.18.10, 6.19
Type (CWE)Not verified

What is CVE-2026-23195?

CVE-2026-23195 is a security flaw in Linux. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cgroup/dmem: avoid pool UAF An UAF issue was observed: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in page_counter_uncharge+0x65/0x150 Write of size 8 at addr ffff888106715440 by task insmod/527 CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 527 Comm: insmod 6.19.0-rc7-next-20260129+ #11 Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x82/0xd0 kasan_report+0xca/0x100 kasan_check_range+0x39/0x1c0 page_counter_uncharge+0x65/0x150 dmem_cgroup_uncharge+0x1f/0x260 Allocated by task 527: Freed by task 0: The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff888106715400 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-512 of size 512 The buggy address is located 64 bytes inside of freed 512-byte region [ffff888106715400, ffff888106715600) The buggy address belongs to the physical page: Memory state around the buggy address: ffff888106715300: fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc ffff888106715380: fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc >ffff888106715400: fa fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ^ ffff888106715480: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ffff888106715500: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb The issue occurs because a pool can still be held by a caller after its associated memory region is unregistered. The current implementation frees the pool even if users still hold references to it (e.g., before uncharge operations complete).

Why this CVE matters

Unpatched network-facing software is the leading initial-access vector in public breach reporting. Treat any CVSS-9 class flaw on an internet-reachable system as urgent, regardless of whether public exploit code has been observed yet.

For deployments of Linux that have been exposed to the public internet during the disclosure window, the operating assumption should be that scanning has already happened. Even where exploitation has not been publicly observed, scanning for the vulnerable fingerprint is cheap and routine. Patching closes the door; log review and credential rotation close out the rest of the response.

Am I affected?

You are affected if your installation matches any of these version ranges:

Check your installed version against the list above. If you cannot determine the version, treat the system as affected and follow the upgrade path below.

Run uname -r to read the kernel release. Compare against the affected ranges; on distro kernels, also check the package version with dpkg -l linux-image-$(uname -r) or rpm -q kernel.

How to fix CVE-2026-23195

  1. Read the vendor advisory in full: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d3081353acaa6a638dcf75726066ea556a2de8d5
  2. Upgrade Linux to 0, 6.18.10, 6.19 or a later version listed in the vendor advisory.
  3. Back up the configuration (and database, where applicable) before upgrading.
  4. Apply the patch in a maintenance window. For HA pairs, upgrade the standby node first, fail over, then upgrade the former primary.
  5. Restart the affected service so the patched binary loads, then verify the new version (see verification section).

Patch the Linux kernel


# Target fixed version: 6.18.10, 6.19
# Source advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d3081353acaa6a638dcf75726066ea556a2de8d5

# Confirm the running kernel.
uname -r

# Debian / Ubuntu - pull the security update.
sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic
sudo reboot

# RHEL / Rocky / AlmaLinux / Fedora.
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh kernel kernel-core kernel-modules -y
sudo reboot

# After reboot, confirm the new kernel is running and compare against the fixed version above.
uname -r
dpkg -l linux-image-$(uname -r) 2>/dev/null | tail -1
rpm -q kernel 2>/dev/null


# Container hosts: bump the host kernel via the same package manager,
# then restart container runtimes so workloads pick up the new host.
sudo systemctl restart docker
sudo systemctl restart containerd


# Windows admin workstation - verify Linux fleet kernels via Ansible (WinRM).
ansible linux -m shell -a "uname -r" -i inventory.ini

Verify the fix landed


# 1. Confirm the running version matches the fixed-in version listed above.
# 2. Re-scan with your vulnerability scanner (Nessus, Qualys, Tenable, OpenVAS).
#    The scanner should no longer flag this CVE on the patched target.
# 3. Inspect recent service / kernel logs for crash-loops or rollback events.
journalctl --since "10 minutes ago" | tail -50
dmesg --since "10 minutes ago" 2>/dev/null | tail -50

If you cannot patch immediately

No official workaround exists beyond restricting network exposure to the affected component. Apply the vendor patch as the primary remediation.

How to verify the fix worked

If your installation was internet-reachable during the disclosure window, treat log review as part of the remediation rather than an optional follow-up. Look for log entries that do not match your normal request patterns, especially repeated requests to the same uncommon endpoint, and any administrative changes you cannot tie back to a known operator.

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2026-23195 being exploited in the wild?

Public exploitation has not been confirmed by CISA at the time of writing. Treat the patch as time-sensitive anyway; reports often lag actual abuse.

Will a WAF or IDS rule fully mitigate CVE-2026-23195?

No. Network-layer filters can reduce noise and slow opportunistic scanners, but they will not stop a determined attacker. The vendor patch is the only durable fix.

How long should I plan for the upgrade?

Typical vendor-documented upgrade windows for Linux run from a few minutes to under an hour depending on cluster size. Test in a staging environment first and follow the vendor's documented HA upgrade order.

References

*This guide was assembled from the official vendor advisory, the NVD record, and the CISA KEV catalog entry on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor advisory before applying changes in production.*