LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2026-23268: apparmor: fix unprivileged local user can do privileged policy management

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: apparmor: fix unprivileged local user can do privileged policy management An unprivileged local user can load, replace, and remove profiles by opening the apparmorfs interfaces, via a confused deputy attack, by passing the opened fd to a privileged process, and getting the privileged process to write to the interface. This does require a privileged target that can be manipulated to do the write for the unprivileged process, but once such access is achieved full policy management is possible and all the possible implications that implies: removing confinement, DoS of system or target applications by denying all execution, by-passing the unprivileged user namespace restriction, to exploiting kernel bugs for a local privilege escalation. The policy management interface can not have its permissions simply changed from 0666 to 0600 because non-root processes need to be able to load policy to different policy namespaces. Instead ensure the task writing the interface has privileges that are a subset of the task that opened the interface. This is already done via policy for confined processes, but unconfined can delegate access to the opened fd, by-passing the usual policy check.

HighCVSS 7.8Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

A logged-in, unprivileged Linux user may abuse a cooperative or manipulable privileged process to change AppArmor security policy. Successful abuse could remove application confinement, disrupt workloads, bypass namespace restrictions, or support privilege escalation. The flaw is local and requires a suitable privileged target, so it is serious but not independently exploitable over the network.

Executive priority

Treat as a high-priority kernel update on multi-user systems and environments where untrusted users can run local code. It is less urgent on systems without local untrusted access or without AppArmor exposure, but those assumptions should be verified. This is not evidence of a remote, unauthenticated compromise path.

Technical view

The flaw is a confused-deputy condition in AppArmor policy-management interfaces. An unprivileged task can open an apparmorfs interface, pass its file descriptor to a privileged process, and induce that process to write. The kernel fixes enforce that the writer's privileges are a subset of the opener's privileges, preventing unauthorized delegation of policy-management access.

Likely exposure

Exposure requires a Linux kernel containing the vulnerable AppArmor behavior, local unprivileged access, and a privileged process that can be manipulated into writing through the opened interface. The supplied version data is ambiguous and does not map distribution backports, so determine exposure using vendor kernel advisories and the cited fix commits.

Exploitation context

The CVSS score is 7.8. This is not listed in CISA KEV, and the supplied sources do not establish active exploitation. Abuse requires local access and a usable privileged deputy, but successful exploitation can provide broad AppArmor policy control.

Researcher notes

The prerequisite privileged deputy materially affects practical exploitability and should be assessed per host. Impact extends beyond policy tampering because removing confinement or bypassing namespace restrictions may enable subsequent attacks. The source bundle provides multiple stable-kernel commits but unclear affected-version boundaries; avoid relying solely on the supplied version array and confirm distribution-specific backports.

Mitigation direction

  • Apply the distribution kernel update that includes the applicable upstream stable fix.
  • Prioritize systems allowing untrusted local users or exposing privileged processes to user-controlled file descriptors.
  • Where patching is delayed, reduce untrusted local access and constrain interactions with privileged processes.
  • Follow Linux distribution guidance for temporary mitigations; none is specified in the supplied sources.

Validation and detection

  • Record the running kernel build and check whether its distributor backported a cited fix.
  • Confirm whether AppArmor is enabled and apparmorfs policy-management interfaces are present.
  • Identify privileged processes accepting or inheriting file descriptors from untrusted local users.
  • Review AppArmor audit records for unexpected profile loads, replacements, removals, or abrupt execution denials.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
11

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

description · low confidence lookup

Privilege behavior lookup

The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2026-23268 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

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

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
0ADP providers
10Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
7.8CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.85.9Linux

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

7.8High
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2026-23268Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

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

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinuxb7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c, b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c, b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c, b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c, b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c, b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c, b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3c, b7fd2c0340eacbee892425e9007647568b7f2a3cunaffected
LinuxLinux4.11, 0, 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.169, 6.6.130, 6.12.77, 6.18.18, 6.19.8, 7.0affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.