CVE-2026-46259: Linux Kernel

High severity, CVSS 7.8. EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: procfs: fix missing RCU protection when reading real_parent in do_task_stat() When reading /proc/[pid]/stat, do_task_stat() accesses task->real_parent without proper RCU protection, which leads to: cpu 0 cpu 1 ----- ----- do_task_stat var = task->real_parent release_task call_rcu(delayed_put_task_struct) task_tgid_nr_ns(var) rcu_read_lock <--- Too late to protect task->real_parent! task_pid_ptr <--- UAF! rcu_read_unlock This patch uses task_ppid_nr_ns() instead of task_tgid_nr_ns() to add proper RCU protection for accessing task->real_parent.

Affected products

• Linux Linux Kernel: from 2.6.26, before 5.10.252 (fixed in 5.10.252); from 5.11, before 5.15.202 (fixed in 5.15.202); from 5.16, before 6.1.165 (fixed in 6.1.165); from 6.2, before 6.6.128 (fixed in 6.6.128); from 6.7, before 6.12.75 (fixed in 6.12.75); from 6.13, before 6.18.14 (fixed in 6.18.14); …

Published 2026-06-03. Last modified 2026-07-22.