Kernel crash via non-RCU address-list splice
Published Feb 14, 2026 · Updated Feb 14, 2026
Race condition in the Linux Kernel MPTCP path allows local users to crash the kernel through concurrent address flush and lookup operations. mptcp_pm_nl_flush_addrs_doit() uses list_splice_init() on an address list that concurrent RCU readers access without compatible synchronization. Low-privileged local access is required, and the demonstrated consequence is a kernel crash during MPTCP address handling.
Summary
What happened
Race condition in the Linux Kernel MPTCP path allows local users to crash the kernel through concurrent address flush and lookup operations. mptcp_pm_nl_flush_addrs_doit() uses list_splice_init() on an address list that concurrent RCU readers access without compatible synchronization. Low-privileged local access is required, and the demonstrated consequence is a kernel crash during MPTCP address handling.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-23169
- Published
- Feb 14, 2026
- Updated
- Feb 14, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- CWE-362, T1499.004
- 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
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=141694df6573b49aa4143c92556544b4b0bbda72 <1f1b9523527df02685dde603f20ff6e603d8e4a1
- Affected versionversion=141694df6573b49aa4143c92556544b4b0bbda72 <e2a9eeb69f7d4ca4cf4c70463af77664fdb6ab1d
- Affected versionversion=5.11
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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