Use-after-free in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-68357

Vulnerability identifier: #VU141689

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-2026-68357

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 watchdog_unregister_governor() and the watchdog pretimeout governor handling logic when unregistering a watchdog governor that is still referenced as default_gov. A local user can trigger governor unregistration and subsequent watchdog device registration or reassignment to cause a denial of service.

The issue occurs when the unregistered governor remains referenced through a dangling default_gov pointer, affecting both newly registered watchdog devices and existing devices whose governor is reassigned.

Linux kernel
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15
Basesystem Module
Development Tools Module
Legacy Module
Public Cloud Module
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching
kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_21-debugsource
kernel-livepatch-6_4_0-150700_53_81-default-debuginfo
kernel-livepatch-6_4_0-150700_53_81-default
kernel-default-livepatch
kernel-64kb-devel-debuginfo
kernel-64kb-debugsource
kernel-docs
kernel-syms
kernel-obs-build
kernel-obs-build-debugsource
kernel-source
reiserfs-kmp-default
reiserfs-kmp-default-debuginfo
kernel-64kb-devel
kernel-default-livepatch-devel
kernel-azure
kernel-azure-devel
kernel-azure-debugsource
kernel-azure-debuginfo
kernel-azure-devel-debuginfo
kernel-default-extra-debuginfo
kernel-default-extra
kernel-64kb-debuginfo
cluster-md-kmp-default
kernel-default-debuginfo
ocfs2-kmp-default-debuginfo
dlm-kmp-default-debuginfo
ocfs2-kmp-default
gfs2-kmp-default-debuginfo
dlm-kmp-default
cluster-md-kmp-default-debuginfo
kernel-default-debugsource
kernel-default
kernel-default-devel-debuginfo
kernel-default-devel
kernel-macros
kernel-devel
kernel-zfcpdump
kernel-zfcpdump-debugsource
kernel-zfcpdump-debuginfo
kernel-64kb
gfs2-kmp-default
kernel-default-base

Install security update from vendor's repository.

Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_21-debugsource - update to 1-150700.15.3.1
kernel-livepatch-6_4_0-150700_53_81-default-debuginfo - update to 1-150700.15.3.1
kernel-livepatch-6_4_0-150700_53_81-default - update to 1-150700.15.3.1
kernel-default-livepatch - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-64kb-devel-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-64kb-debugsource - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-docs - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-syms - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-obs-build - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-obs-build-debugsource - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-source - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
reiserfs-kmp-default - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
reiserfs-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-64kb-devel - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-livepatch-devel - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-azure - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-azure-devel - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-azure-debugsource - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-azure-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-azure-devel-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-extra-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-extra - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-64kb-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
cluster-md-kmp-default - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
ocfs2-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
dlm-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
ocfs2-kmp-default - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
gfs2-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
dlm-kmp-default - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
cluster-md-kmp-default-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-debugsource - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-devel-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-devel - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-macros - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-devel - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-zfcpdump - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-zfcpdump-debugsource - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-zfcpdump-debuginfo - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-64kb - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
gfs2-kmp-default - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1
kernel-default-base - update to 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1.150700.17.45.1

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0ca252720f0e38411cfec3431db9bb1aed0a412c
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2e47b91b9b4020fcc01def14d6b6556d66074cf4
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7362ba0f9c96ac3ad6a2ca3995bd9fc9a28a8661
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7993d626983cc58fbde9607333cfd2d57725c197
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7d1658b066de30f4b23afc14814d22416a971e6e

• Use-after-free in Linux kernel watchdog driver
• SUSE update for the Linux Kernel