Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23450

medium Nessus Plugin ID 304974

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- net/smc: fix NULL dereference and UAF in smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock() Syzkaller reported a panic in smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock() [1]. smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock() is called in the TCP receive path (softirq) via icsk_af_ops->syn_recv_sock on the clcsock (TCP listening socket). It reads sk_user_data to get the smc_sock pointer. However, when the SMC listen socket is being closed concurrently, smc_close_active() sets clcsock->sk_user_data to NULL under sk_callback_lock, and then the smc_sock itself can be freed via sock_put() in smc_release(). This leads to two issues: 1) NULL pointer dereference: sk_user_data is NULL when accessed. 2) Use-after-free: sk_user_data is read as non-NULL, but the smc_sock is freed before its fields (e.g., queued_smc_hs, ori_af_ops) are accessed. The race window looks like this (the syzkaller crash [1] triggers via the SYN cookie path: tcp_get_cookie_sock() -> smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock(), but the normal tcp_check_req() path has the same race): CPU A (softirq) CPU B (process ctx) tcp_v4_rcv() TCP_NEW_SYN_RECV: sk = req->rsk_listener sock_hold(sk) /* No lock on listener */ smc_close_active():
write_lock_bh(cb_lock) sk_user_data = NULL write_unlock_bh(cb_lock) ... smc_clcsock_release() sock_put(smc->sk) x2 -> smc_sock freed! tcp_check_req() smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock(): smc = user_data(sk) -> NULL or dangling smc->queued_smc_hs -> crash! Note that the clcsock and smc_sock are two independent objects with separate refcounts. TCP stack holds a reference on the clcsock, which keeps it alive, but this does NOT prevent the smc_sock from being freed. Fix this by using RCU and refcount_inc_not_zero() to safely access smc_sock. Since smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock() is called in the TCP three-way handshake path, taking read_lock_bh on sk_callback_lock is too heavy and would not survive a SYN flood attack. Using rcu_read_lock() is much more lightweight. - Set SOCK_RCU_FREE on the SMC listen socket so that smc_sock freeing is deferred until after the RCU grace period. This guarantees the memory is still valid when accessed inside rcu_read_lock(). - Use rcu_read_lock() to protect reading sk_user_data. - Use refcount_inc_not_zero(&smc->sk.sk_refcnt) to pin the smc_sock. If the refcount has already reached zero (close path completed), it returns false and we bail out safely. Note: smc_hs_congested() has a similar lockless read of sk_user_data without rcu_read_lock(), but it only checks for NULL and accesses the global smc_hs_wq, never dereferencing any smc_sock field, so it is not affected. Reproducer was verified with mdelay injection and smc_run, the issue no longer occurs with this patch applied. [1] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=827ae2bfb3a3529333e9 (CVE-2026-23450)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2026-23450

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-23450

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 304974

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_23450.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 4/5/2026

Updated: 4/5/2026

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.9

Temporal Score: 4.2

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-23450

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5.5

Temporal Score: 5.1

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:U/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-doc, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-abi-whitelists, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-tools-libs-devel, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:linux, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-doc, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-abi-whitelists, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-tools-libs-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-ipaclones-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-uki-virt, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libperf, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:rv, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-uki-virt, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-ipaclones-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libperf, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:libperf-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:rv, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-uki-virt-addons, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-uki-virt-addons, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules-extra, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libperf-devel, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-headers, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:perf, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-tools, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-tools-libs, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:bpftool, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-headers, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:perf, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-tools, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-tools-libs, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-kvm, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:bpftool, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-cross-headers, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:python3-perf, cpe:/o:centos:centos:8, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-cross-headers, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:python3-perf, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-abi-stablelists, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-abi-stablelists, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-devel-matched, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-uki-virt, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:rtla, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-kvm, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-64k-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-64k-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-uki-virt, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:rtla, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-uki-virt-addons, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-kvm, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-64k-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-uki-virt-addons, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-debug-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-devel-matched, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-kvm, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-64k-modules-partner, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-extra-matched, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules-extra-matched

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/cpu, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 4/3/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-23450