Use-after-free in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-52973

Vulnerability identifier: #VU135410

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-2026-52973

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 a use-after-free in futex hash allocation logic when creating a CLONE_VM clone that shares the memory map outside strict CLONE_THREAD semantics. A local user can create a crafted clone scenario to cause a denial of service.

The issue arises when the memory map is shared in ways other than pthread-style threading, which can leave a biased per-cpu futex reference pointing to freed memory.

Linux kernel
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, little endian
Ubuntu
kpatch-patch-5_14_0-687_10_1 (Red Hat package)
kpatch-patch-6_12_0-211_16_1 (Red Hat package)
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia-bos (Ubuntu package)

Install security update from vendor's repository.

Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
kpatch-patch-5_14_0-687_10_1 (Red Hat package) - update to 1-8.el9_8
kpatch-patch-6_12_0-211_16_1 (Red Hat package) - update to 1-8.el10_2
linux (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-28.28, 7.0.0-28.28.1, 7.0.0-1003.4, 7.0.0-1008.8
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-1008.8, 7.0.0-1010.10
linux-aws (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-1009.9, 7.0.0-1015.15
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1009.9
linux-azure (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-1009.9, 7.0.0-1010.10
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1011.11~24.04.1
linux-oracle-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1011.11~24.04.1
linux-azure-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1
linux-nvidia (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-1016.16, 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1
linux-nvidia-bos (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-2016.16

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1dcd36420af2da5bd59306dba9caf78e3d248b1d
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/974ac49a9a068b0591a59f65c63eb06579a13091
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee9dce44362b2d8132c32964656ab6dff7dfbc6a

• Use-after-free in Linux kernel futex hash allocation logic
• Ubuntu update for linux-oem-7.0
• Ubuntu update for linux
• Ubuntu update for linux-ibm
• Ubuntu update for linux-azure
• Ubuntu update for linux-aws
• Ubuntu update for linux-nvidia-bos
• Ubuntu update for linux-nvidia
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 update for kpatch-patch-5_14_0-687_10_1
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 update for kpatch-patch-6_12_0-211_16_1
• Ubuntu update for linux-gcp-7.0
• Ubuntu update for linux-oracle-7.0
• Ubuntu update for linux-azure-7.0