Kernel crash via unrelated peer reference drop
Published Aug 10, 2026 · Updated Aug 10, 2026
Use-after-free in the Linux ovpn module allows local users to crash the kernel during UDP P2P peer replacement. During old-socket destruction, ovpn_peer_release_p2p() drops the replacement peer's reference despite a socket mismatch, freeing it while ovpn->peer still points to it. Exploitation requires local low-privilege access and ovpn UDP P2P mode; successful triggering interrupts the host by crashing its kernel.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in the Linux ovpn module allows local users to crash the kernel during UDP P2P peer replacement. During old-socket destruction, ovpn_peer_release_p2p() drops the replacement peer's reference despite a socket mismatch, freeing it while ovpn->peer still points to it. Exploitation requires local low-privilege access and ovpn UDP P2P mode; successful triggering interrupts the host by crashing its kernel.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-68342
- Published
- Aug 10, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 10, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-825, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 10, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 10, 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.
- Affected versionversion=6.16
- Affected versionversion=f6226ae7a0cd47aaa9175aca6a1e19600f884cbf <016a50379d17b886d12a4efa5211a418e035fe70
- Affected versionversion=f6226ae7a0cd47aaa9175aca6a1e19600f884cbf <b52c5103f64ee825996ca1ab8df7283cde8c5f86
- Affected versionversion=f6226ae7a0cd47aaa9175aca6a1e19600f884cbf <c5bf6b39be235ef578af4d39872f0c68cda3b937
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo