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CVE-2026-52923

ipc: limit next_id allocation to the valid ID range

7.8 EPSS 0.2% AV:L

Published 2026-06-24 (4 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem ipc. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.

What to do, per Debian release

Debian's own status for CVE-2026-52923 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source

ReleaseStatus VersionWhat this means
Debian 12bookwormfixedDLA-4665-1 · 2026-07-03 · text6.1.176-1Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4665-1 shipped the fix on 2026-07-03, in 6.1.176-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian 13trixiefixed6.12.94-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.94-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian 14forkyfixed7.0.12-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.0.12-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian unstablesidfixed7.0.12-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.0.12-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.

The vulnerability

What the bug is

The checkpoint/restore sysctl path can request the next SysV IPC id through ids->next_id. ipc_idr_alloc() currently forwards that request to idr_alloc() with an open-ended upper bound. If the valid tail of the SysV IPC id space is full, the allocation can spill beyond ipc_mni. The returned SysV IPC id still uses the normal index encoding, so later lookup and removal can target the wrong slot. This leaves the real IDR entry behind and breaks the IDR state for the object. The bug is in ipc_idr_alloc() in the checkpoint/restore path. 1. ids->next_id is passed to: idr_alloc(&ids->ipcs_idr, new, ipcid_to_idx(next_id), 0, ...) 2. The zero upper bound makes the allocation effectively open-ended. Once the valid SysV IPC tail is occupied, idr_alloc() can spill past ipc_mni and allocate an entry beyond the valid IPC id range. 3. The new object id is still encoded with the narrower SysV IPC index width: new->id = (new->seq << ipcmni_seq_shift()) + idx 4. Later removal goes through ipc_rmid(), which uses: ipcid_to_idx(ipcp->id) That truncates the real IDR index. An object actually stored at a high index can then be removed as if it lived at a low in-range index. 5. For shared memory, shm_destroy() frees the current object anyway, but the real high IDR slot is left behind as a dangling pointer. 6. A subsequent walk of /proc/sysvipc/shm reaches the stale IDR entry and dereferences freed memory. Prevent this by bounding the requested allocation to ipc_mni so the checkpoint/restore path fails once the valid range is exhausted.

Where it lives

The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.

ipc/util.c

What this is
THE RESTMAINTAINERS section matched on */ · linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org · Buried alive in reporters

Check it on the machine

grep -w CONFIG_SYSVIPC /boot/config-$(uname -r)

Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.

Show whether Debian builds this, per release

Debian builds this code. Every release below compiles the affected file into the kernels it ships.

  • bookworm, trixie, forky, sidy
y
built into the kernel image on every flavour - only a patch removes it
Build switch
CONFIG_SYSVIPC

From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages

Signals

Published
2026-06-24 (4 months ago)source
CVSS
7.8 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it
Attack vector
local (AV:L)source
EPSS
0.17%, higher than 5.5% of all CVEssource
CISA KEV
not listedthe KEV catalogue
Debian urgency
not yet assignedsource
Subsystem
ipc

Upstream fixes

The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source

IntroducedFixed inCommit
3.85.10.2593bbe2bb9111c
3.85.15.2108c58a9284917
3.86.1.176af24e202b543
3.86.6.143157ce2c6836c
3.86.12.9341058d4c3f63
3.86.18.35a3cc795129e5
3.87.0.12bd4be70669af
3.87.1fa0b9b2b7ae3

Debian advisories

AdvisoryDateShipped toDebian
DLA-4671-12026-07-05bullseye 6.1.176-1~deb11u1tracker
DLA-4665-12026-07-03bookworm 6.1.176-1tracker
DLA-4664-12026-07-03bullseye 5.10.259-1tracker

Why the CNA scored it this way

Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source

AV:LAttack vector, local
The vulnerable path is reached through local SysV IPC syscalls plus writes to `/proc/sys/kernel/*_next_id`, not through network or physical input.
AC:LAttack complexity, low
The attacker controls the sysctl value, IPC allocation pattern, removal, and proc/syscall enumeration needed to trigger the stale IDR pointer; filling the valid ID tail is resource-intensive but deterministic.
PR:LPrivileges required, low
A basic local user can reasonably reach this via unprivileged user namespaces by creating a user/IPC namespace and gaining the namespace capabilities needed for the checkpoint/restore sysctls.
UI:NUser interaction, none
No victim action is required after the local attacker runs the sysctl and SysV IPC operations.
S:UScope, unchanged
This is a standard kernel memory corruption/local privilege escalation class issue within the same kernel security authority.
C:HConfidentiality impact, high
The bug leaves a freed SysV IPC object reachable through the IDR, producing a kernel use-after-free; UAFs are scored as high confidentiality impact because reclaimed kernel heap contents can be exposed or used for read primitives.
I:HIntegrity impact, high
The stale pointer/use-after-free can plausibly be exploited through heap reuse for kernel memory corruption and control-flow or object manipulation, so integrity impact is high.
A:HAvailability impact, high
Even without full exploitation, walking `/proc/sysvipc/shm` or related enumeration can dereference freed memory and crash or hang the kernel.