CVE-2026-72071

Local kernel crash via user-event teardown race

Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 2026

A use-after-free in the Linux kernel allows local users to crash the system by racing user-event teardown with fork(). user_event_enabler_destroy() frees an enabler and drops its event reference without an RCU grace period while user_event_mm_dup() can still dereference both objects. Access to tracefs user_events_data is required; its default Ubuntu permissions restrict the trigger to uid 0.

CVSS severity7.8
High
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

A use-after-free in the Linux kernel allows local users to crash the system by racing user-event teardown with fork(). user_event_enabler_destroy() frees an enabler and drops its event reference without an RCU grace period while user_event_mm_dup() can still dereference both objects. Access to tracefs user_events_data is required; its default Ubuntu permissions restrict the trigger to uid 0.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-72071
Published
Aug 15, 2026
Updated
Aug 15, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-362, CWE-825, CWE-416, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 15, 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=6.4
  2. Affected versionversion=7235759084a4f8524a46bd2638885ff3b34ce279 <05b24f68f78ff3a1ef7f015f7327b35886b741f6
  3. Affected versionversion=7235759084a4f8524a46bd2638885ff3b34ce279 <25acb6711da6fa0382744fa92bd6d42a22c1ae68
  4. Affected versionversion=7235759084a4f8524a46bd2638885ff3b34ce279 <50fd6dd755c6e48a38af2fa4621167eea56829c2
  5. Affected versionversion=7235759084a4f8524a46bd2638885ff3b34ce279 <95400e7039cdfeb0b53652d521d766f1698cae95
  6. Affected versionversion=7235759084a4f8524a46bd2638885ff3b34ce279 <b33ac2d39953efb12f598c0dae242c5f644ea669

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.4; version=7235759084a4f8524a46bd2638885ff3b34ce279 <05b24f68f78ff3a1ef7f015f7327b35886b741f6; version=7235759084a4f8524a46bd2638885ff3b34ce279 <25acb6711da6fa0382744fa92bd6d42a22c1ae68; version=7235759084a4f8524a46bd2638885ff3b34ce279 <50fd6dd755c6e48a38af2fa4621167eea56829c2; version=7235759084a4f8524a46bd2638885ff3b34ce279 <95400e7039cdfeb0b53652d521d766f1698cae95; version=7235759084a4f8524a46bd2638885ff3b34ce279 <b33ac2d39953efb12f598c0dae242c5f644ea669

Published CVSS scores

7.8UbuntuCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.7Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

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
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
CWE-825Expired Pointer Dereference
CWE-416Use After Free
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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

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Your stack

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