Local kernel memory corruption via inherited arena VMA
Published May 27, 2026 · Updated May 27, 2026
Use-after-free in the BPF arena subsystem in Linux Kernel allows local users to trigger kernel memory corruption after forking an arena VMA. arena_vm_open increments mmap_count for the inherited child mapping but leaves vml->vma pointing to the parent VMA, so parent unmapping leaves a dangling pointer that zap_pages later reads. Exploitation requires local access, an arena VMA, a fork, parent unmapping, and a child bpf_arena_free_pages call; the resulting stale access can corrupt kernel memory.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in the BPF arena subsystem in Linux Kernel allows local users to trigger kernel memory corruption after forking an arena VMA. arena_vm_open increments mmap_count for the inherited child mapping but leaves vml->vma pointing to the parent VMA, so parent unmapping leaves a dangling pointer that zap_pages later reads. Exploitation requires local access, an arena VMA, a fork, parent unmapping, and a child bpf_arena_free_pages call; the resulting stale access can corrupt kernel memory.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-45837
- Published
- May 27, 2026
- Updated
- May 27, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- CWE-416
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 27, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 27, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=317460317a02a1af512697e6e964298dedd8a163 <201128fcc7b213d27ab77bc4e89488b41796480f
- Affected versionversion=317460317a02a1af512697e6e964298dedd8a163 <4fddde2a732de60bb97e3307d4eb69ac5f1d2b74
- Affected versionversion=317460317a02a1af512697e6e964298dedd8a163 <723b9fa930cc277c15ce6b9ec9feec828cfac9d7
- Affected versionversion=317460317a02a1af512697e6e964298dedd8a163 <d18099f19e53250f8ad2801498b88cec29d9107a
- Affected versionversion=6.9
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What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
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Your stack
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