Description
A local privilege escalation was discovered in the Linux kernel before 5.10.13. Multiple race conditions in the AF_VSOCK implementation are caused by wrong locking in net/vmw_vsock/af_vsock.c. The race conditions were implicitly introduced in the commits that added VSOCK multi-transport support.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | linux | 5.10.13-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 5.10.13-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | linux | 5.10.13-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-hwe-5.8 | 5.8.0-43.49~20.04.1 | USN-4727-1 |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-oem-5.10 | 5.10.0-1016.17 | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-oem-5.6 | 5.6.0-1047.51 | USN-4727-1 |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-riscv +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-riscv-5.8 | 5.8.0-16.18~20.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-gcp +12 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | linux-hwe-edge | No fix yet | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 8 | kernel-rt +12 | 4.18.0-240.22.1.rt7.77.el8_3 | RHSA-2021:1081 |
| RHEL 8 | perf +26 | 4.18.0-240.22.1.el8_3 | RHSA-2021:1093 |
AlmaLinux
Errata ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| AlmaLinux 8 | kernel-abi-whitelists +1 | 4.18.0-240.22.1.el8_3 | ALSA-2021:1093 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | kernel-source | 5.14.6-1.4 | openSUSE-SU-2024:13704-1, openSUSE-SU-2024:10728-1 |
Oracle Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Linux 8 | perf +19 | 4.18.0-240.22.1.el8_3 | ELSA-2021-1093 |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
GitHub 3 repositories
-
jordan9001/vsock_poc ★ 28 · Feb 15, 2021
Investigating the bug behind CVE-2021-26708
-
kungaocode/vulnerability-analysis- ★ 1 · Aug 7, 2026
Automated reproduction and analysis of CVE-2021-26708 — a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's AF_VSOCK subsystem (v5.10.12). Includes PoC exploit code, KASAN runtime detection report, …
-
azpema/CVE-2021-26708 ★ 0 · Mar 15, 2021
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Advisories 7
- ALSA-2021:1093 Important: kernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update AlmaLinux Security Advisories · Oct 29, 2026
- RHSA-2021:1093 Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Aug 26, 2026
- RHSA-2021:1081 Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel-rt security and bug fix update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Aug 26, 2026
- USN-4727-1 linux, linux-aws, linux-azure, linux-gcp, linux-hwe-5.8, linux-kvm, linux-oem-5.6, linux-oracle, linux-raspi vulnerability Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Feb 10, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:13704-1 kernel-devel-longterm-6.6.17-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:10728-1 kernel-devel-5.14.6-1.4 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- ELSA-2021-1093 Important: kernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update (Oracle Linux 8) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Apr 7, 2021
References
- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=c518adafa39f37858697ac9309c6cf1805581446
- https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.10.13
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/02/04/5
- [oss-security] 20210205 Re: Linux kernel: Exploitable vulnerabilities in AF_VSOCK implementation mailing-list
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210312-0008/
- [oss-security] 20210409 Re: Linux kernel: Exploitable vulnerabilities in AF_VSOCK implementation mailing-list
- [oss-security] 20220125 CVE-2022-0185: Linux kernel slab out-of-bounds write: exploit and writeup mailing-list