Use After Free in Linux

CVE-2026-23216

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: target: iscsi: Fix use-after-free in iscsit_dec_conn_usage_count() In iscsit_dec_conn_usage_count(), the function calls complete() while holding the conn->conn_usage_lock. As soon as complete() is invoked, the waiter (such as iscsit_close_connection()) may wake up and proceed to free the iscsit_conn structure. If the waiter frees the memory before the current thread reaches spin_unlock_bh(), it results in a KASAN slab-use-after-free as the function attempts to release a lock within the already-freed connection structure. Fix this by releasing the spinlock before calling complete().

Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free

EPSS: 0.001 (1.9th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-23216?
CVE-2026-23216 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2026-02-18.
How severe is CVE-2026-23216?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.