Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-23296

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.11 / 5.15.203 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: scsi: core: Fix refcount leak for tagset_refcnt This leak will cause a hang when tearing down the SCSI host. For example, iscsid hangs with the following call trace: [130120.652718] scsi_alloc_sdev: Allocation failure during SCSI scanning, some SCSI devices might not be configured PID: 2528 TASK: ffff9d0408974e00 CPU: 3 COMMAND: "iscsid" #0 [ffffb5b9c134b9e0] __schedule at ffffffff860657d4 #1 [ffffb5b9c134ba28] schedule at ffffffff86065c6f #2 [ffffb5b9c134ba40] schedule_timeout at ffffffff86069fb0 #3 [ffffb5b9c134bab0] __wait_for_common at ffffffff8606674f #4 [ffffb5b9c134bb10] scsi_remove_host at ffffffff85bfe84b #5 [ffffb5b9c134bb30] iscsi_sw_tcp_session_destroy at ffffffffc03031c4 [iscsi_tcp] #6 [ffffb5b9c134bb48] iscsi_if_recv_msg at ffffffffc0292692 [scsi_transport_iscsi] #7 [ffffb5b9c134bb98] iscsi_if_rx at ffffffffc02929c2 [scsi_transport_iscsi] #8 [ffffb5b9c134bbf0] netlink_unicast at ffffffff85e551d6 #9 [ffffb5b9c134bc38] netlink_sendmsg at ffffffff85e554ef

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:>= 5.10.223, < 5.11>= 5.15.164, < 5.15.203>= 5.19.12, < 6.0>= 6.0.1, < 6.1.167>= 6.2, < 6.6.130>= 6.7, < 6.12.77>= 6.13, < 6.18.17>= 6.19, < 6.19.7= 6.0= 7.0

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 5.11 / 5.15.203 / 6.0 or later
Fixed in 5.115.15.2036.0
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel 6.1.167 or later (or the latest stable kernel 6.x/6.12.x branch for longest support)

  1. 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Check which affected branch your kernel belongs to (5.10.x, 5.15.x, 5.19.x, or 6.0.x/6.1.x)
  3. 3. For 5.10.x systems: upgrade to kernel 5.11 or later (note: 5.11 is End-of-Life, consider upgrading to 5.15.203+ or 6.1.167+)
  4. 4. For 5.15.x systems: upgrade to kernel 5.15.203 or later
  5. 5. For 5.19.x systems: upgrade to kernel 6.0 or later
  6. 6. For 6.0.x/6.1.x systems: upgrade to kernel 6.1.167 or later
  7. 7. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to apply the fixed kernel
  8. 8. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version matches or exceeds the fixed release for your branch
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding out-of-tree kernel modules; ensure driver compatibility before upgrading

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

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2026-23296 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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