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NVD / CVE Program· CNA Linux

CVE-2026-68179: misc: nsm: only unlock nsm_dev on post-lock error paths

HighCVSS 8.4 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 33/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.18% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: Linux Linux 4aa3f7d48e91eb74a363c1b4d7dbdd28f5b341fb, 8f068342096b027181b168d91fef7ac7a2c64b25, ce1fed11d18e163baf7f875152a33bf80f625c1a.
  • Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).

Low priority for now. Upgrade to Linux Linux 4aa3f7d48e91eb74a363c1b4d7dbdd28f5b341fb, 8f068342096b027181b168d91fef7ac7a2c64b25, ce1fed11d18e163baf7f875152a33bf80f625c1a or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: misc: nsm: only unlock nsm_dev on post-lock error paths nsm_dev_ioctl() jumps to the common out label even when the initial copy_from_user() fails before nsm->lock has been taken. The error path then blindly unlocks a mutex that was never acquired. This issue was found by our static analysis tool and then manually reviewed against the current tree. The grounded PoC kept the miscdevice ioctl entry and the pre-lock copy_from_user(&raw, argp, _IOC_SIZE(cmd)) failure path by issuing NSM_IOCTL_RAW with an invalid user pointer. That failure reaches the shared out label before mutex_lock(&nsm->lock). Lockdep reported: WARNING: bad unlock balance detected! exploit/193 is trying to release lock (&global_nsm.lock) at: nsm_dev_ioctl+0x5f/0xcf [vuln_msv] but there are no more locks to release! no locks held by exploit/193. Return immediately on the pre-lock copy_from_user() failure and keep the common unlock label for the post-lock paths only.

Published
Aug 10, 2026
Updated
Oct 19, 2026
EPSS
0.1% · 7th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

33

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
33 / 40 · 8.4 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.1%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · Linux
8.4
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2026-68179

When you'll hear from us

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  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

—

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Linux). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Linux Linux

    • 6.8affected
    • b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 and later · before 4aa3f7d48e91eb74a363c1b4d7dbdd28f5b341fbaffected · git
    • b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 and later · before 8f068342096b027181b168d91fef7ac7a2c64b25affected · git
    • b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 and later · before f318f5a872cb9096536e759b23ae5c9873bb80edaffected · git
    • b9873755a6c8ccfce79094c4dce9efa3ecb1a749 and later · before ce1fed11d18e163baf7f875152a33bf80f625c1aaffected · git
    • before 6.8not affected · semver
    • 6.12.101 and later · up to and including 6.12.*not affected · semver
    • 6.18.42 and later · up to and including 6.18.*not affected · semver
    • 7.1.6 and later · up to and including 7.1.*not affected · semver
    • 7.2 and laternot affected · original_commit_for_fix

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12linux-6.12before 6.12.101-1~deb12u16.12.101-1~deb12u1
Debian:13linuxbefore 6.12.101-16.12.101-1
Debian:14linuxbefore 7.1.6-17.1.6-1

Same product

linux: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-74705udp: fix potential use-after-free in tunnel segmentation
    40Plan
  • CVE-2026-74612veth: fix skb length accounting after XDP frag adjustment
    40Plan
  • CVE-2026-74475vxlan: use neigh_ha_snapshot() in route_shortcircuit()
    40Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-68169Aug 10, 2026 · mptcp: pm: userspace: fix use-after-free in get_local_id
    0Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-68178Aug 10, 2026 · misc: nsm: pin the module while the device is open
    31Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-68180Aug 10, 2026 · intel_th: fix MSC output device reference leak
    0Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Linux Linux4aa3f7d48e91eb74a363c1b4d7dbdd28f5b341fbVendor (CNA)
Linux Linux8f068342096b027181b168d91fef7ac7a2c64b25Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linuxce1fed11d18e163baf7f875152a33bf80f625c1aVendor (CNA)
Linux Linuxf318f5a872cb9096536e759b23ae5c9873bb80edVendor (CNA)
debian:linux6.12.101-1 · Debian:13Package registry (OSV)
debian:linux-6.126.12.101-1~deb12u1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)

Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.

All national notices →

Not on record for this CVE: patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-675 · Multiple Operations on Resource in Single-Operation Context

CVSS vector

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

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

References

Show all references (3 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records