CVE-2026-23177

Local service hang via shmem truncate retry loop

Published Feb 14, 2026 · Updated Feb 14, 2026

Infinite-loop denial of service in Linux Kernel 6.12 allows local users to hang a truncation operation involving a large swap entry. The shmem truncation path passes an index from the middle of a large swap entry to shmem_free_swap(), then retries that unchanged index after a base-index mismatch, so find_get_entries() returns the same entry forever. Reaching the loop requires local low-privilege access, a large swap entry, and the truncation race; the resulting impact is an availability hang.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.17%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Infinite-loop denial of service in Linux Kernel 6.12 allows local users to hang a truncation operation involving a large swap entry. The shmem truncation path passes an index from the middle of a large swap entry to shmem_free_swap(), then retries that unchanged index after a base-index mismatch, so find_get_entries() returns the same entry forever. Reaching the loop requires local low-privilege access, a large swap entry, and the truncation race; the resulting impact is an availability hang.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-23177
Published
Feb 14, 2026
Updated
Feb 14, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 14, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=6.12
  2. Affected versionversion=809bc86517cc408b5b8cb8e08e69096639432bc8 <2030dddf95451b4e7a389f052091e7c4b7b274c6
  3. Affected versionversion=809bc86517cc408b5b8cb8e08e69096639432bc8 <7b6a0f121d50234aab3e7ab9a62ebe826d40a32a
  4. Affected versionversion=809bc86517cc408b5b8cb8e08e69096639432bc8 <dfc3ab6bd64860f8022d69903be299d09be86e11

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=6.12; version=809bc86517cc408b5b8cb8e08e69096639432bc8 <2030dddf95451b4e7a389f052091e7c4b7b274c6; version=809bc86517cc408b5b8cb8e08e69096639432bc8 <7b6a0f121d50234aab3e7ab9a62ebe826d40a32a; version=809bc86517cc408b5b8cb8e08e69096639432bc8 <dfc3ab6bd64860f8022d69903be299d09be86e11

Published CVSS scores

5.5OracleCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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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