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PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2026-23241 Linux CVE debrief

CVE-2026-23241 is a Linux kernel audit coverage issue. The audit "read" class was missing the "at" variants of getxattr() and listxattr(), so reads of extended attributes through getxattrat() or listxattrat() could avoid audit rules that should have logged those accesses. NVD rates the issue 5.5 (Medium) and maps it to local, low-privilege abuse with high availability impact. Kernel fixes are referenced in stable patch commits.

Vendor
Linux
Product
Unknown
CVSS
MEDIUM 5.5
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2026-03-17
Original CVE updated
2026-05-20
Advisory published
2026-03-17
Advisory updated
2026-05-20

Who should care

Linux kernel maintainers, distro security teams, and operators who rely on audit rules to record file and extended-attribute reads on production systems.

Technical summary

According to the CVE description, the audit subsystem's read class omitted getxattrat() and listxattrat(). That omission meant audit rules intended to track reads on a path, such as a rule for /tmp/test with read/write/attribute logging, could be bypassed when the same information was accessed via the "at" syscall variants. NVD lists affected Linux kernel ranges as 6.13 through 6.18.15 and 6.19 through 6.19.5, with patches available in stable kernel commits.

Defensive priority

Medium

Recommended defensive actions

  • Apply the upstream Linux kernel fixes referenced by the stable kernel patch commits.
  • Prioritize updates for systems that use audit rules to monitor file or xattr access.
  • Review audit policy coverage for extended-attribute read paths, including "at" syscall variants.
  • Validate that your kernel version is outside the affected ranges listed by NVD.
  • If you cannot patch immediately, treat audit logs involving xattr reads as potentially incomplete on affected kernels.

Evidence notes

Evidence comes from the CVE description, NVD analysis, and linked kernel.org stable patches. The CVE was published on 2026-03-17 and last modified in NVD on 2026-05-20. NVD classifies the issue with CVSS 3.1 vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H and records affected Linux kernel ranges as version 6.13 through 6.18.15 and 6.19 through 6.19.5. NVD also marks the weakness as NVD-CWE-noinfo.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

  • CVE-2026-23241 CVE Program record

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23241

    CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.

  • CVE-2026-23241 NVD vulnerability detail

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23241

    NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

Supplemental references

  • Mitigation or vendor reference

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2e8c144299c31d3972295ed80d4cb908daf4f6f

    416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 - Patch

  • Mitigation or vendor reference

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad37505ce869a8100ff23f24eea117de7a7516bf

    416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 - Patch

  • Mitigation or vendor reference

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bcb90a2834c7393c26df9609b889a3097b7700cd

    416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 - Patch

  • Mitigation or vendor reference

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://www.bencteux.fr/posts/missing_syscalls_audit/

    416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 - Third Party Advisory

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.