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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-23211

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.18.9 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm, swap: restore swap_space attr aviod kernel panic commit 8b47299a411a ("mm, swap: mark swap address space ro and add context debug check") made the swap address space read-only. It may lead to kernel panic if arch_prepare_to_swap returns a failure under heavy memory pressure as follows, el1_abort+0x40/0x64 el1h_64_sync_handler+0x48/0xcc el1h_64_sync+0x84/0x88 errseq_set+0x4c/0xb8 (P) __filemap_set_wb_err+0x20/0xd0 shrink_folio_list+0xc20/0x11cc evict_folios+0x1520/0x1be4 try_to_shrink_lruvec+0x27c/0x3dc shrink_one+0x9c/0x228 shrink_node+0xb3c/0xeac do_try_to_free_pages+0x170/0x4f0 try_to_free_pages+0x334/0x534 __alloc_pages_direct_reclaim+0x90/0x158 __alloc_pages_slowpath+0x334/0x588 __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x224/0x2fc __folio_alloc_noprof+0x14/0x64 vma_alloc_zeroed_movable_folio+0x34/0x44 do_pte_missing+0xad4/0x1040 handle_mm_fault+0x4a4/0x790 do_page_fault+0x288/0x5f8 do_translation_fault+0x38/0x54 do_mem_abort+0x54/0xa8 Restore swap address space as not ro to avoid the panic.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 6.18, < 6.18.9= 6.19

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.18.9 or later
Fixed in 6.18.9
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.18.9 or later, or Linux Kernel 6.20 or later

  1. Back up current kernel and critical data before proceeding
  2. Identify your current kernel version using `uname -r`
  3. For distribution kernels: check if your vendor has released an updated kernel package that includes this fix
  4. For mainline kernels: upgrade to kernel version 6.18.9 or later, or 6.20 or later
  5. Reboot into the new kernel and verify the fix is applied by checking `uname -r` shows the updated version
Caveat Kernel upgrades generally require system reboot and may have minor compatibility changes with external modules; ensure any proprietary kernel modules are compatible with the new version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-23211 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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