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

How to Fix CVE-2026-23345: Critical Vulnerability in Linux

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

*By Sai Kiran Pandrala*

⚡ At a glance
SeverityNot verified - see advisory
Actively exploited?Not currently listed in CISA KEV
Affected6497b66ba6945f142902c7e8fce86e47016ead1c < ca1684dd297bf0725c1d487cff80e615497accf6, 6497b66ba6945f142902c7e8fce86e47016ead1c < 1df3ef7e612d6ccbae5a48e1121553c47c2123d6, 6497b66ba6945f142902c7e8fce86e47016ead1c < 8a85b3131225a8c8143ba2ae29c0eef8c1f9117f, 6.13
Fixed in0, 6.18.17, 6.19.7, 7.0
Type (CWE)Not verified

What is CVE-2026-23345?

CVE-2026-23345 is a security flaw in Linux. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: arm64: gcs: Do not set PTE_SHARED on GCS mappings if FEAT_LPA2 is enabled When FEAT_LPA2 is enabled, bits 8-9 of the PTE replace the shareability attribute with bits 50-51 of the output address. The _PAGE_GCS{,_RO} definitions include the PTE_SHARED bits as 0b11 (this matches the other _PAGE_* definitions) but using this macro directly leads to the following panic when enabling GCS on a system/model with LPA2: Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address fffff1ffc32d8008 Mem abort info: ESR = 0x0000000096000004 EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits SET = 0, FnV = 0 EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 FSC = 0x04: level 0 translation fault Data abort info: ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000004, ISS2 = 0x00000000 CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 swapper pgtable: 4k pages, 52-bit VAs, pgdp=0000000060f4d000 [fffff1ffc32d8008] pgd=100000006184b003, p4d=0000000000000000 Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000004 [#1] SMP CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 513 Comm: gcs_write_fault Tainted: G M 7.0.0-rc1 #1 PREEMPT Tainted: [M]=MACHINE_CHECK Hardware name: QEMU QEMU Virtual Machine, BIOS 2025.02-8+deb13u1 11/08/2025 pstate: 03402005 (nzcv daif +PAN -UAO +TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : zap_huge_pmd+0x168/0x468 lr : zap_huge_pmd+0x2c/0x468 sp : ffff800080beb660 x29: ffff800080beb660 x28: fff00000c2058180 x27: ffff800080beb898 x26: fff00000c2058180 x25: ffff800080beb820 x24: 00c800010b600f41 x23: ffffc1ffc30af1a8 x22: fff00000c2058180 x21: 0000ffff8dc00000 x20: fff00000c2bc6370 x19: ffff800080beb898 x18: ffff800080bebb60 x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 0000000000000007 x14: 000000000000000a x13: 0000aaaacbbbffff x12: 0000000000000000 x11: 0000ffff8ddfffff x10: 00000000000001fe x9 : 0000ffff8ddfffff x8 : 0000ffff8de00000 x7 : 0000ffff8da00000 x6 : fff00000c2bc6370 x5 : 0000ffff8da00000 x4 : 000000010b600000 x3 : ffffc1ffc0000000 x2 : fff00000c2058180 x1 : fffff1ffc32d8000 x0 : 000000c00010b600 Call trace: zap_huge_pmd+0x168/0x468 (P) unmap_page_range+0xd70/0x1560 unmap_single_vma+0x48/0x80 unmap_vmas+0x90/0x180 unmap_region+0x88/0xe4 vms_complete_munmap_vmas+0xf8/0x1e0 do_vmi_align_munmap+0x158/0x180 do_vmi_munmap+0xac/0x160 __vm_munmap+0xb0/0x138 vm_munmap+0x14/0x20 gcs_free+0x70/0x80 mm_release+0x1c/0xc8 exit_mm_release+0x28/0x38 do_exit+0x190/0x8ec do_group_exit+0x34/0x90 get_signal+0x794/0x858 arch_do_signal_or_restart+0x11c/0x3e0 exit_to_user_mode_loop+0x10c/0x17c el0_da+0x8c/0x9c el0t_64_sync_handler+0xd0/0xf0 el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x19c Code: aa1603e2 d34cfc00 cb813001 8b011861 (f9400420) Similarly to how the kernel handles protection_map[], use a gcs_page_prot variable to store the protection bits and clear PTE_SHARED if LPA2 is enabled.

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-2026-23345

  1. Read the vendor advisory in full: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca1684dd297bf0725c1d487cff80e615497accf6
  2. Upgrade Linux to 0, 6.18.17, 6.19.7, 7.0 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: 6.18.17, 6.19.7, 7.0
# Source advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca1684dd297bf0725c1d487cff80e615497accf6

# 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-2026-23345 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-2026-23345?

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.*