CVE-2026-72151

System crash via prematurely freed KPP request

Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 2026

Use-after-free in Linux kernel TPM2 session handling allows attackers to crash systems during automatic entropy polling. The tpm_buf_append_salt() function starts asynchronous ECDH public-key or shared-secret work, ignores -EINPROGRESS, and frees the KPP request before its completion worker dereferences it. The path runs without userland action, but exposure requires an asynchronous ecdh-nist-p256 backend such as atmel-ecc, HPRE, or keembay-ocs; the demonstrated consequence is a kernel crash.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.18%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in Linux kernel TPM2 session handling allows attackers to crash systems during automatic entropy polling. The tpm_buf_append_salt() function starts asynchronous ECDH public-key or shared-secret work, ignores -EINPROGRESS, and frees the KPP request before its completion worker dereferences it. The path runs without userland action, but exposure requires an asynchronous ecdh-nist-p256 backend such as atmel-ecc, HPRE, or keembay-ocs; the demonstrated consequence is a kernel crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-72151
Published
Aug 15, 2026
Updated
Aug 15, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-416, CWE-825, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

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

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=1085b8276bb4239daa7008f0dcd5c973e4bd690f <111e520efbe82b324bc42b1999b723c0619eea6d
  2. Affected versionversion=1085b8276bb4239daa7008f0dcd5c973e4bd690f <493333f167926c7adab8e7563e21ad71d8af84fa
  3. Affected versionversion=1085b8276bb4239daa7008f0dcd5c973e4bd690f <73851a7c43dfa52d2ed9415889b33daf85da0ed9
  4. Affected versionversion=1085b8276bb4239daa7008f0dcd5c973e4bd690f <934d1cd40e2893bf7a041b54f6afd1c008d7a21c
  5. Affected versionversion=6.10

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1085b8276bb4239daa7008f0dcd5c973e4bd690f <111e520efbe82b324bc42b1999b723c0619eea6d; version=1085b8276bb4239daa7008f0dcd5c973e4bd690f <493333f167926c7adab8e7563e21ad71d8af84fa; version=1085b8276bb4239daa7008f0dcd5c973e4bd690f <73851a7c43dfa52d2ed9415889b33daf85da0ed9; version=1085b8276bb4239daa7008f0dcd5c973e4bd690f <934d1cd40e2893bf7a041b54f6afd1c008d7a21c; version=6.10

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

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 exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-416Use After Free
CWE-825Expired Pointer Dereference
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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