CVE-2026-23268Public exploit

Policy takeover via delegated AppArmor descriptors

Published Mar 18, 2026 · Updated Mar 18, 2026

AppArmor policy-management bypass in affected Linux Kernel releases allows local users to load, replace, or remove security profiles. The apparmorfs policy interfaces authorize the task performing a write without ensuring its privileges are a subset of those held by the task that opened the descriptor. Exploitation requires a manipulable privileged process to write through that delegated descriptor, enabling confinement removal, service interruption, or chained local privilege escalation.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.14%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

AppArmor policy-management bypass in affected Linux Kernel releases allows local users to load, replace, or remove security profiles. The apparmorfs policy interfaces authorize the task performing a write without ensuring its privileges are a subset of those held by the task that opened the descriptor. Exploitation requires a manipulable privileged process to write through that delegated descriptor, enabling confinement removal, service interruption, or chained local privilege escalation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-23268
Published
Mar 18, 2026
Updated
Mar 18, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
T1562.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 18, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=4.11
  2. Affected versionversion=b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c <0fc63dd9170643d15c25681fca792539e23f4640
  3. Affected versionversion=b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c <6601e13e82841879406bf9f369032656f441a425
  4. Affected versionversion=b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c <b60b3f7a35c46b2e0ca934f9c988b8fca06d76c6
  5. Affected versionversion=b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c <b6a94eeca9c6c8f7c55ad44c62c98324f51ec596

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=4.11; version=b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c <0fc63dd9170643d15c25681fca792539e23f4640; version=b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c <6601e13e82841879406bf9f369032656f441a425; version=b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c <b60b3f7a35c46b2e0ca934f9c988b8fca06d76c6; version=b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c <b6a94eeca9c6c8f7c55ad44c62c98324f51ec596

Published CVSS scores

7.8kernel.orgCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1562.001Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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