Local service interruption via L2TP socket race
Published Feb 14, 2026 · Updated Feb 14, 2026
Data race in affected Linux Kernel releases allows local users to interrupt service by racing L2TP tunnel deletion with socket release. The l2tp_tunnel_del_work function reads sk->sk_socket while sk_common_release concurrently clears that pointer, although only kernel sockets require the read. The path requires local low-privileged access and a timing race; the published impact is limited to availability, with no disclosed data access or privilege gain.
Summary
What happened
Data race in affected Linux Kernel releases allows local users to interrupt service by racing L2TP tunnel deletion with socket release. The l2tp_tunnel_del_work function reads sk->sk_socket while sk_common_release concurrently clears that pointer, although only kernel sockets require the read. The path requires local low-privileged access and a timing race; the published impact is limited to availability, with no disclosed data access or privilege gain.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-23120
- Published
- Feb 14, 2026
- Updated
- Feb 14, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 14, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 14, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=15df699fdc5af46a9fb15ae2d9326294852de5b5
- Affected versionversion=18bdaefc715b4530b4b2fe670506bb47713664cc
- Affected versionversion=4.16
- Affected versionversion=d00fa9adc528c1b0e64d532556764852df8bd7b9 <1f63ca44b4f419a1663d94d1bb0b4e2beb73fdb4
- Affected versionversion=d00fa9adc528c1b0e64d532556764852df8bd7b9 <32d417497b79efb403d75f4c185fe6fd9d64b94f
- Affected versionversion=d00fa9adc528c1b0e64d532556764852df8bd7b9 <36c40a80109f1771d59558050b1a71e13c60c759
- Affected versionversion=d00fa9adc528c1b0e64d532556764852df8bd7b9 <3d6d414b214ce31659bded2f8df50c93a3769474
- Affected versionversion=d00fa9adc528c1b0e64d532556764852df8bd7b9 <68e92085427c84e7679ddb53c0d68836d220b6e7
- Affected versionversion=d00fa9adc528c1b0e64d532556764852df8bd7b9 <7a29f6bf60f2590fe5e9c4decb451e19afad2bcf
- Affected versionversion=d00fa9adc528c1b0e64d532556764852df8bd7b9 <eae074dab764ea181bbed5e88626889319177498
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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