Use After Free in Linux

CVE-2026-53157

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: phonet: free phonet_device after RCU grace period phonet_device_destroy() removes a phonet_device from the per-net device list with list_del_rcu(), but frees it immediately. RCU readers walking the same list can still hold a pointer to the object after it has been removed, leading to a slab-use-after-free. Use kfree_rcu(), matching the lifetime rule already used by phonet_address_del() for the same object type.

Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free

Published · last modified .

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.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.001 (1.9th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 2nd percentile — 1.9% 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-2026-53157: held from 0.001 to 0.001.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.001 · change: 0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 6.18.36, eeb74a9d45f781ec6f47b9e0a75a6a427b53f165, 2.6.33
  • Linux Kernel — versions 7.1

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-53157?
CVE-2026-53157 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2026-06-25.
How severe is CVE-2026-53157?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.