Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2026-23414

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tls: Purge async_hold in tls_decrypt_async_wait() The async_hold queue pins encrypted input skbs while the AEAD engine references their scatterlist data. Once tls_decrypt_async_wait() returns, every AEAD operation has completed and the engine no longer references those skbs, so they can be freed unconditionally. A subsequent patch adds batch async decryption to tls_sw_read_sock(), introducing a new call site that must drain pending AEAD operations and release held skbs. Move __skb_queue_purge(&ctx->async_hold) into tls_decrypt_async_wait() so the purge is centralized and every caller -- recvmsg's drain path, the -EBUSY fallback in tls_do_decryption(), and the new read_sock batch path -- releases held skbs on synchronization without each site managing the purge independently. This fixes a leak when tls_strp_msg_hold() fails part-way through, after having added some cloned skbs to the async_hold queue. tls_decrypt_sg() will then call tls_decrypt_async_wait() to process all pending decrypts, and drop back to synchronous mode, but tls_sw_recvmsg() only flushes the async_hold queue when one record has been processed in "fully-async" mode, which may not be the case here. [pabeni@redhat.com: added leak comment]

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (14.0th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 14th percentile — 14.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-23414: held from 0.002 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: 0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 6.6.114, c61d4368197d65c4809d9271f3b85325a600586a, 9f83fd0c179e0f458e824e417f9d5ad53443f685
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.18, 7.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-23414?
CVE-2026-23414 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2026-04-02.
How severe is CVE-2026-23414?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.