Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2026-74540

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Bluetooth: L2CAP: fix UAF in l2cap_le_connect_rsp l2cap_le_connect_rsp() obtains a channel via __l2cap_get_chan_by_ident() but neither holds a reference nor uses l2cap_chan_hold_unless_zero() before locking and operating on it. A concurrent l2cap_chan_del() triggered by a remote disconnect can free the channel between the lookup and l2cap_chan_lock(), causing a use-after-free. The BR/EDR counterpart l2cap_connect_rsp() and the sibling handler l2cap_le_command_rej() already use l2cap_chan_hold_unless_zero() to safely hold a reference, but l2cap_le_connect_rsp() was left unprotected. Fix by adding l2cap_chan_hold_unless_zero() after the ident lookup and l2cap_chan_put() on the exit path, consistent with other L2CAP response handlers.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.004 (31.7th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 32nd percentile — 31.7% 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-2026-74540: held from 0.003 to 0.004.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.004 · change: +0.001

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 3.14, 7.2-rc6, 7.2

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-74540?
CVE-2026-74540 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2026-08-15.
How severe is CVE-2026-74540?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.