Local privilege escalation via malformed AppArmor DFA
Published Apr 1, 2026 · Updated Apr 1, 2026
Out-of-bounds access in affected Linux kernels allows local users to escalate privileges through a crafted AppArmor policy. In verify_dfa(), a differential-chain DEFAULT_TABLE value at or above state_count is used as an array index without validation, causing kernel heap reads and writes. Loading the policy requires CAP_MAC_ADMIN, obtainable by unprivileged local users when unprivileged_userns_apparmor_policy is enabled; successful corruption can disclose kernel data, crash the system, or enable kernel code execution.
Summary
What happened
Out-of-bounds access in affected Linux kernels allows local users to escalate privileges through a crafted AppArmor policy. In verify_dfa(), a differential-chain DEFAULT_TABLE value at or above state_count is used as an array index without validation, causing kernel heap reads and writes. Loading the policy requires CAP_MAC_ADMIN, obtainable by unprivileged local users when unprivileged_userns_apparmor_policy is enabled; successful corruption can disclose kernel data, crash the system, or enable kernel code execution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-23407
- Published
- Apr 1, 2026
- Updated
- Apr 1, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- CWE-125, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 1, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 1, 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=031dcc8f4e84fea37dc6f78fdc7288aa7f8386c3 <5a68e46dfe0c8c8ffc6f425ebc4cae6238566ecc
- Affected versionversion=031dcc8f4e84fea37dc6f78fdc7288aa7f8386c3 <76b4d36c5122866452d34d8f79985e191f9c3831
- Affected versionversion=031dcc8f4e84fea37dc6f78fdc7288aa7f8386c3 <7c7cf05e0606f554c467e3a4dc49e2e578a755b4
- Affected versionversion=031dcc8f4e84fea37dc6f78fdc7288aa7f8386c3 <d352873bbefa7eb39995239d0b44ccdf8aaa79a4
- Affected versionversion=031dcc8f4e84fea37dc6f78fdc7288aa7f8386c3 <f39e126e56c6ec1930fae51ad6bca3dae2a4c3ed
- Affected versionversion=4.17
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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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.
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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