Use-after-free in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-45972

Vulnerability identifier: #VU132513

CSH Severity: Low

CVSS v4: 6.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]

CVE-ID: CVE-2026-45972

CWE-ID: CWE-416

Exploitation vector: Local access

Exploit availability: No public exploit available

The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service.

The vulnerability exists due to use-after-free in smb2_open_file() when retrying SMB2_open(). A local user can trigger the retry path to cause a denial of service.

The issue can also result in a double free when @data is NULL.

Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fips (Ubuntu package)
linux-hwe-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia-tegra (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-raspi (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure (Ubuntu package)
linux-raspi-realtime (Ubuntu package)

Install security update from vendor's repository.

linux (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-134.134, 6.8.0-1057.58~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1058.61+fips1, 6.8.0-1058.61~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1060.61, 6.8.0-1060.63+fips1, 6.8.0-1060.63~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1063.69, 6.8.0-1063.69+fips1, 6.8.1-1055.56, 6.8.1-1055.56~22.04.1
linux-azure-fips (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-134.134+fips1, 6.8.0-1062.69+fips1
linux-hwe-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-136.136~22.04.1
linux-nvidia-tegra (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1029.30
linux-aws-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-1045.48, 6.8.0-1057.58~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1058.61.1, 6.8.0-1058.64, 6.8.0-1060.61~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1060.63~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1063.69~22.04.1
linux-raspi (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1060.64
linux-azure-fde (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1062.69
linux-azure-fde-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1062.69~22.04.1
linux-azure (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-1063.71, 6.8.0-1063.71~22.04.1
linux-raspi-realtime (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-2049.50

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4d339b219004869e96c4ce56b8891f83a38da4c0
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/639deb962986ef2f5e2a6d5a600c66f922471e81
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7425453ea16dbc3bbb0f6cac4d60b537e5e4d151
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/96e53bb3ee2f354cf6b4ab07bcc56e500f8b3f74
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e66dcf7bb9c4df5582c82bc3582725abcbfbea73
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ebbbc4bfad4cb355d17c671223d0814ee3ef4eda

• Use-after-free in Linux kernel smb client
• Ubuntu update for linux
• Ubuntu update for linux-nvidia-tegra
• Ubuntu update for linux-aws-6.8
• Ubuntu update for linux-raspi-realtime
• Ubuntu update for linux-raspi
• Ubuntu update for linux-azure-fips
• Ubuntu update for linux-azure-fde-6.8
• Ubuntu update for linux-azure-fde
• Ubuntu update for linux-azure
• Ubuntu update for linux-hwe-6.8