CVE-2026-93138Hinoki check available

Privilege escalation via lockless BTF publication race

Published Sep 17, 2026 · Updated Sep 18, 2026

Race condition in Linux 5.5 and later affected branches allows local users with delegated CAP_BPF to escalate privileges or crash the kernel. bpf_get_btf_vmlinux publishes lazily parsed vmlinux BTF data with a plain store while a lockless reader uses a plain load, exposing partially initialized type data on weakly ordered CPUs. Concurrent BPF_PROG_LOAD or BPF_MAP_CREATE calls are required; torn metadata permits kernel reads or writes and can trigger a kernel oops.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.18%
Next 30 days · Oct 19, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkAvailable
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Summary

What happened

Race condition in Linux 5.5 and later affected branches allows local users with delegated CAP_BPF to escalate privileges or crash the kernel. bpf_get_btf_vmlinux publishes lazily parsed vmlinux BTF data with a plain store while a lockless reader uses a plain load, exposing partially initialized type data on weakly ordered CPUs. Concurrent BPF_PROG_LOAD or BPF_MAP_CREATE calls are required; torn metadata permits kernel reads or writes and can trigger a kernel oops.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-93138
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

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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=5.5
  2. Affected versionversion=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <2892f3f44bf865c8fb6b6c0960edec4cc91806ee
  3. Affected versionversion=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <86d11c594d60b255b526fa5260f669463fb1a063
  4. Affected versionversion=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <92863e678070f57c17c868e4bfa2441a5c61ad2b
  5. Affected versionversion=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <978524ecfc1c539282df5858de1eec20748c6f74
  6. Affected versionversion=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <a7fe72d780122eb934536f1719abad445f6afdf7
  7. Affected versionversion=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <e18a10b39c994f04e1ebd7f8fc042bb1ca8ad053
  8. Affected versionversion=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <eaf302628a78806f66d8224d6ba03fb4d5025de4
  9. Affected versionversion=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <f32a4a40bc635be25d6816da4bd91e9e58c31bf3

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.5; version=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <2892f3f44bf865c8fb6b6c0960edec4cc91806ee; version=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <86d11c594d60b255b526fa5260f669463fb1a063; version=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <92863e678070f57c17c868e4bfa2441a5c61ad2b; version=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <978524ecfc1c539282df5858de1eec20748c6f74; version=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <a7fe72d780122eb934536f1719abad445f6afdf7; version=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <e18a10b39c994f04e1ebd7f8fc042bb1ca8ad053; version=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <eaf302628a78806f66d8224d6ba03fb4d5025de4; version=8580ac9404f6240668a026785d7d8856f0530409 <f32a4a40bc635be25d6816da4bd91e9e58c31bf3

Published CVSS scores

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.

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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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