Vulnerability · Published May 27, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2026-45918ovpn: tcp - don't deref NULL sk_socket member after tcp_close()

Medium 5.5

In plain English

A medium-severity security flaw in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 6% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS NVD)5.5Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 94.4% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsnot in CISA KEV
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ovpn: tcp - don't deref NULL sk_socket member after tcp_close() When deleting a peer in case of keepalive expiration, the peer is removed from the OpenVPN hashtable and is temporary inserted in a "release list" for further processing. This happens in: ovpn_peer_keepalive_work() unlock_ovpn(release_list) This processing includes detaching from the socket being used to talk to this peer, by restoring its original proto and socket ops/callbacks. In case of TCP it may happen that, while the peer is sitting in the release list, userspace decides to close the socket. This will result in a concurrent execution of: tcp_close(sk) __tcp_close(sk) sock_orphan(sk) sk_set_socket(sk, NULL) The last function call will set sk->sk_socket to NULL. When the releasing routine is resumed, ovpn_tcp_socket_detach() will attempt to dereference sk->sk_socket to restore its original ops member. This operation will crash due to sk->sk_socket being NULL. Fix this race condition by testing-and-accessing sk->sk_socket atomically under sk->sk_callback_lock.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:14linux6.18.14-1DEBIAN-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:25.10linuxno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:25.10linux-awsno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.14no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:25.10linux-azureno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:25.10linux-azure-fdeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:25.10linux-gcpno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.14no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.14no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iot-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.14no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.8no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:25.10linux-oracleno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.14no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:25.10linux-raspino fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:25.10linux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:25.10linux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.14no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45918

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux 11851cbd60ea1e5abbd97619d69845ead99303d6 – before f998b2c4bec487063a586695159f9a1856e81c5611851cbd60ea1e5abbd97619d69845ead99303d6 – before b9142cf4e066c825ec68752a7dcaceda700bbe2611851cbd60ea1e5abbd97619d69845ead99303d6 – before 94560267d6c41b1ff3fafbab726e3f8a55a6af34
Linux Linux 6.16

References