CVE-2026-90392

Local privilege escalation via BPF link race

Published Sep 17, 2026 · Updated Sep 18, 2026

Use-after-free in the Linux kernel allows local users to escalate privileges through concurrent BPF link update and inspection. bpf_link_show_fdinfo and bpf_link_get_info_by_fd read link->prog without RCU protection while bpf_link_update can free the prior program. The user must be able to create and update a BPF link, requiring CAP_BPF and usually CAP_NET_ADMIN; successful exploitation permits kernel reads, writes, or a kernel oops.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.16%
Next 30 days · Oct 19, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in the Linux kernel allows local users to escalate privileges through concurrent BPF link update and inspection. bpf_link_show_fdinfo and bpf_link_get_info_by_fd read link->prog without RCU protection while bpf_link_update can free the prior program. The user must be able to create and update a BPF link, requiring CAP_BPF and usually CAP_NET_ADMIN; successful exploitation permits kernel reads, writes, or a kernel oops.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-90392
Published
Sep 17, 2026
Updated
Sep 18, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 17, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 18, 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=0c991ebc8c69d29b7fc44db17075c5aa5253e2ab <79347e42cfbc9e78872922e8f08a70609c9af82f
  2. Affected versionversion=0c991ebc8c69d29b7fc44db17075c5aa5253e2ab <85cf991c881e7198be32be05a9daa2625390c8b3
  3. Affected versionversion=0c991ebc8c69d29b7fc44db17075c5aa5253e2ab <863f3ddd0b8ac65abfb50d3be0869268ac0e277b
  4. Affected versionversion=0c991ebc8c69d29b7fc44db17075c5aa5253e2ab <a5c936ac904767fc1d943d40b0308bcb2ae2509b
  5. Affected versionversion=0c991ebc8c69d29b7fc44db17075c5aa5253e2ab <d7d7208e2603b45724b684f4df73904fb347741e
  6. Affected versionversion=5.7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=0c991ebc8c69d29b7fc44db17075c5aa5253e2ab <79347e42cfbc9e78872922e8f08a70609c9af82f; version=0c991ebc8c69d29b7fc44db17075c5aa5253e2ab <85cf991c881e7198be32be05a9daa2625390c8b3; version=0c991ebc8c69d29b7fc44db17075c5aa5253e2ab <863f3ddd0b8ac65abfb50d3be0869268ac0e277b; version=0c991ebc8c69d29b7fc44db17075c5aa5253e2ab <a5c936ac904767fc1d943d40b0308bcb2ae2509b; version=0c991ebc8c69d29b7fc44db17075c5aa5253e2ab <d7d7208e2603b45724b684f4df73904fb347741e; version=5.7

Published CVSS scores

3.6Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L
7.8Linux CNACVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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.

Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.

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

No observations available

Sep 22, 2026Sep 28, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 28, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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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