Threats / Linux / CVE-2023-0266
CVE-2023-0266
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-06-22
Linux Kernel vulnerability
Linux kernel use-after-free vulnerability enabling privilege escalation from system user to ring0 access.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A use-after-free flaw in the Linux kernel permits local privilege escalation, allowing an unprivileged system user to gain kernel-level (ring0) access. The vulnerability has been observed in active exploitation.
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
7 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-03-30).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.03702 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
Affected: Linux, Kernel. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-416 Use After Free — weakness family: Memory safety.CWE assignment from the public NVD record; the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I execute code as an unprivileged system user on a vulnerable Linux system.
Business
An attacker gains a foothold with standard user privileges on the target system.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I trigger the use-after-free condition in the kernel memory management to corrupt kernel state.
Business
Memory safety controls are bypassed, creating conditions for arbitrary code execution.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I escalate my privileges to ring0 kernel level through the corrupted kernel state.
Business
The attacker achieves complete system compromise with kernel-level access and control.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05