CVE-2026-23159

Source
https://cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23159
Import Source
https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-23159.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/CVE-2026-23159
Downstream
Published
2026-02-14T16:01:25.229Z
Modified
2026-02-14T20:18:32.505146Z
Summary
perf: sched: Fix perf crash with new is_user_task() helper
Details

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

perf: sched: Fix perf crash with new isusertask() helper

In order to do a user space stacktrace the current task needs to be a user task that has executed in user space. It use to be possible to test if a task is a user task or not by simply checking the task_struct mm field. If it was non NULL, it was a user task and if not it was a kernel task.

But things have changed over time, and some kernel tasks now have their own mm field.

An idea was made to instead test PFKTHREAD and two functions were used to wrap this check in case it became more complex to test if a task was a user task or not[1]. But this was rejected and the C code simply checked the PFKTHREAD directly.

It was later found that not all kernel threads set PFKTHREAD. The io-uring helpers instead set PFUSER_WORKER and this needed to be added as well.

But checking the flags is still not enough. There's a very small window when a task exits that it frees its mm field and it is set back to NULL. If perf were to trigger at this moment, the flags test would say its a user space task but when perf would read the mm field it would crash with at NULL pointer dereference.

Now there are flags that can be used to test if a task is exiting, but they are set in areas that perf may still want to profile the user space task (to see where it exited). The only real test is to check both the flags and the mm field.

Instead of making this modification in every location, create a new isusertask() helper function that does all the tests needed to know if it is safe to read the user space memory or not.

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250425204120.639530125@goodmis.org/

Database specific
{
    "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/23xxx/CVE-2026-23159.json",
    "cna_assigner": "Linux"
}
References

Affected packages

Git / git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git

Affected ranges

Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
34b5aba8511a12fb2e9bd3124835cb4087187dac
Fixed
d84a4836dc246b7dc244e46a08ff992956b68db0
Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
8d79f96e477c4b8e3fca2efb36b269d8960a2285
Fixed
5aac392fcd3d981d7997f1a0766829e1afdeac2e
Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
90942f9fac05702065ff82ed0bade0d08168d4ea
Fixed
a28fce0365e1cb9cb8c04c893b9334e5ca9d9f1c
Fixed
76ed27608f7dd235b727ebbb12163438c2fbb617
Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
0 Unknown introduced commit / All previous commits are affected
Last affected
5050083e1a2f3e5e29cee0205c40e5864b52601d

Affected versions

v2.*
v2.6.12
v2.6.12-rc2
v2.6.12-rc3
v2.6.12-rc4
v2.6.12-rc5
v2.6.12-rc6
v2.6.13
v2.6.13-rc1
v2.6.13-rc2
v2.6.13-rc3
v2.6.13-rc4
v2.6.13-rc5
v2.6.13-rc6
v2.6.13-rc7
v2.6.14
v2.6.14-rc1
v2.6.14-rc2
v2.6.14-rc3
v2.6.14-rc4
v2.6.14-rc5
v2.6.15
v2.6.15-rc1
v2.6.15-rc2
v2.6.15-rc3
v2.6.15-rc4
v2.6.15-rc5
v2.6.15-rc6
v2.6.15-rc7
v2.6.16
v2.6.16-rc1
v2.6.16-rc2
v2.6.16-rc3
v2.6.16-rc4
v2.6.16-rc5
v2.6.16-rc6
v2.6.17
v2.6.17-rc1
v2.6.17-rc2
v2.6.17-rc3
v2.6.17-rc4
v2.6.17-rc5
v2.6.17-rc6
v2.6.18
v2.6.18-rc1
v2.6.18-rc2
v2.6.18-rc3
v2.6.18-rc4
v2.6.18-rc5
v2.6.18-rc6
v2.6.18-rc7
v2.6.19
v2.6.19-rc1
v2.6.19-rc2
v2.6.19-rc3
v2.6.19-rc4
v2.6.19-rc5
v2.6.19-rc6
v2.6.20
v2.6.20-rc1
v2.6.20-rc2
v2.6.20-rc3
v2.6.20-rc4
v2.6.20-rc5
v2.6.20-rc6
v2.6.20-rc7
v2.6.21
v2.6.21-rc1
v2.6.21-rc2
v2.6.21-rc3
v2.6.21-rc4
v2.6.21-rc5
v2.6.21-rc6
v2.6.21-rc7
v2.6.22
v2.6.22-rc1
v2.6.22-rc2
v2.6.22-rc3
v2.6.22-rc4
v2.6.22-rc5
v2.6.22-rc6
v2.6.22-rc7
v2.6.23
v2.6.23-rc1
v2.6.23-rc2
v2.6.23-rc3
v2.6.23-rc4
v2.6.23-rc5
v2.6.23-rc6
v2.6.23-rc7
v2.6.23-rc8
v2.6.23-rc9
v2.6.24
v2.6.24-rc1
v2.6.24-rc2
v2.6.24-rc3
v2.6.24-rc4
v2.6.24-rc5
v2.6.24-rc6
v2.6.24-rc7
v2.6.24-rc8
v2.6.25
v2.6.25-rc1
v2.6.25-rc2
v2.6.25-rc3
v2.6.25-rc4
v2.6.25-rc5
v2.6.25-rc6
v2.6.25-rc7
v2.6.25-rc8
v2.6.25-rc9
v2.6.26
v2.6.26-rc1
v2.6.26-rc2
v2.6.26-rc3
v2.6.26-rc4
v2.6.26-rc5
v2.6.26-rc6
v2.6.26-rc7
v2.6.26-rc8
v2.6.26-rc9
v2.6.27
v2.6.27-rc1
v2.6.27-rc2
v2.6.27-rc3
v2.6.27-rc4
v2.6.27-rc5
v2.6.27-rc6
v2.6.27-rc7
v2.6.27-rc8
v2.6.27-rc9
v2.6.28
v2.6.28-rc1
v2.6.28-rc2
v2.6.28-rc3
v2.6.28-rc4
v2.6.28-rc5
v2.6.28-rc6
v2.6.28-rc7
v2.6.28-rc8
v2.6.28-rc9
v2.6.29
v2.6.29-rc1
v2.6.29-rc2
v2.6.29-rc3
v2.6.29-rc4
v2.6.29-rc5
v2.6.29-rc6
v2.6.29-rc7
v2.6.29-rc8
v2.6.30
v2.6.30-rc1
v2.6.30-rc2
v2.6.30-rc3
v2.6.30-rc4
v2.6.30-rc5
v2.6.30-rc6
v2.6.30-rc7
v2.6.30-rc8
v2.6.31
v2.6.31-rc1
v2.6.31-rc2
v2.6.31-rc3
v2.6.31-rc4
v2.6.31-rc5
v2.6.31-rc6
v2.6.31-rc7
v2.6.31-rc8
v2.6.31-rc9
v2.6.32
v2.6.32-rc1
v2.6.32-rc2
v2.6.32-rc3
v2.6.32-rc4
v2.6.32-rc5
v2.6.32-rc6
v2.6.32-rc7
v2.6.32-rc8
v2.6.33
v2.6.33-rc1
v2.6.33-rc2
v2.6.33-rc3
v2.6.33-rc4
v2.6.33-rc5
v2.6.33-rc6
v2.6.33-rc7
v2.6.33-rc8
v2.6.34
v2.6.34-rc1
v2.6.34-rc2
v2.6.34-rc3
v2.6.34-rc4
v2.6.34-rc5
v2.6.34-rc6
v2.6.34-rc7
v2.6.35
v2.6.35-rc1
v2.6.35-rc2
v2.6.35-rc3
v2.6.35-rc4
v2.6.35-rc5
v2.6.35-rc6
v2.6.36
v2.6.36-rc1
v2.6.36-rc2
v2.6.36-rc3
v2.6.36-rc4
v2.6.36-rc5
v2.6.36-rc6
v2.6.36-rc7
v2.6.36-rc8
v2.6.37
v2.6.37-rc1
v2.6.37-rc2
v2.6.37-rc3
v2.6.37-rc4
v2.6.37-rc5
v2.6.37-rc6
v2.6.37-rc7
v2.6.37-rc8
v2.6.38
v2.6.38-rc1
v2.6.38-rc2
v2.6.38-rc3
v2.6.38-rc4
v2.6.38-rc5
v2.6.38-rc6
v2.6.38-rc7
v2.6.38-rc8
v2.6.39
v2.6.39-rc1
v2.6.39-rc2
v2.6.39-rc3
v2.6.39-rc4
v2.6.39-rc5
v2.6.39-rc6
v2.6.39-rc7
v3.*
v3.0
v3.0-rc1
v3.0-rc2
v3.0-rc3
v3.0-rc4
v3.0-rc5
v3.0-rc6
v3.0-rc7
v3.1
v3.1-rc1
v3.1-rc10
v3.1-rc2
v3.1-rc3
v3.1-rc4
v3.1-rc5
v3.1-rc6
v3.1-rc7
v3.1-rc8
v3.1-rc9
v3.10
v3.10-rc1
v3.10-rc2
v3.10-rc3
v3.10-rc4
v3.10-rc5
v3.10-rc6
v3.10-rc7
v3.11
v3.11-rc1
v3.11-rc2
v3.11-rc3
v3.11-rc4
v3.11-rc5
v3.11-rc6
v3.11-rc7
v3.12
v3.12-rc1
v3.12-rc2
v3.12-rc3
v3.12-rc4
v3.12-rc5
v3.12-rc6
v3.12-rc7
v3.13
v3.13-rc1
v3.13-rc2
v3.13-rc3
v3.13-rc4
v3.13-rc5
v3.13-rc6
v3.13-rc7
v3.13-rc8
v3.14
v3.14-rc1
v3.14-rc2
v3.14-rc3
v3.14-rc4
v3.14-rc5
v3.14-rc6
v3.14-rc7
v3.14-rc8
v3.15
v3.15-rc1
v3.15-rc2
v3.15-rc3
v3.15-rc4
v3.15-rc5
v3.15-rc6
v3.15-rc7
v3.15-rc8
v3.16
v3.16-rc1
v3.16-rc2
v3.16-rc3
v3.16-rc4
v3.16-rc5
v3.16-rc6
v3.16-rc7
v3.17
v3.17-rc1
v3.17-rc2
v3.17-rc3
v3.17-rc4
v3.17-rc5
v3.17-rc6
v3.17-rc7
v3.18
v3.18-rc1
v3.18-rc2
v3.18-rc3
v3.18-rc4
v3.18-rc5
v3.18-rc6
v3.18-rc7
v3.19
v3.19-rc1
v3.19-rc2
v3.19-rc3
v3.19-rc4
v3.19-rc5
v3.19-rc6
v3.19-rc7
v3.2
v3.2-rc1
v3.2-rc2
v3.2-rc3
v3.2-rc4
v3.2-rc5
v3.2-rc6
v3.2-rc7
v3.3
v3.3-rc1
v3.3-rc2
v3.3-rc3
v3.3-rc4
v3.3-rc5
v3.3-rc6
v3.3-rc7
v3.4
v3.4-rc1
v3.4-rc2
v3.4-rc3
v3.4-rc4
v3.4-rc5
v3.4-rc6
v3.4-rc7
v3.5
v3.5-rc1
v3.5-rc2
v3.5-rc3
v3.5-rc4
v3.5-rc5
v3.5-rc6
v3.5-rc7
v3.6
v3.6-rc1
v3.6-rc2
v3.6-rc3
v3.6-rc4
v3.6-rc5
v3.6-rc6
v3.6-rc7
v3.7
v3.7-rc1
v3.7-rc2
v3.7-rc3
v3.7-rc4
v3.7-rc5
v3.7-rc6
v3.7-rc7
v3.7-rc8
v3.8
v3.8-rc1
v3.8-rc2
v3.8-rc3
v3.8-rc4
v3.8-rc5
v3.8-rc6
v3.8-rc7
v3.9
v3.9-rc1
v3.9-rc2
v3.9-rc3
v3.9-rc4
v3.9-rc5
v3.9-rc6
v3.9-rc7
v3.9-rc8
v4.*
v4.0
v4.0-rc1
v4.0-rc2
v4.0-rc3
v4.0-rc4
v4.0-rc5
v4.0-rc6
v4.0-rc7
v4.1
v4.1-rc1
v4.1-rc2
v4.1-rc3
v4.1-rc4
v4.1-rc5
v4.1-rc6
v4.1-rc7
v4.1-rc8
v4.10
v4.10-rc1
v4.10-rc2
v4.10-rc3
v4.10-rc4
v4.10-rc5
v4.10-rc6
v4.10-rc7
v4.10-rc8
v4.11
v4.11-rc1
v4.11-rc2
v4.11-rc3
v4.11-rc4
v4.11-rc5
v4.11-rc6
v4.11-rc7
v4.11-rc8
v4.12
v4.12-rc1
v4.12-rc2
v4.12-rc3
v4.12-rc4
v4.12-rc5
v4.12-rc6
v4.12-rc7
v4.13
v4.13-rc1
v4.13-rc2
v4.13-rc3
v4.13-rc4
v4.13-rc5
v4.13-rc6
v4.13-rc7
v4.14
v4.14-rc1
v4.14-rc2
v4.14-rc3
v4.14-rc4
v4.14-rc5
v4.14-rc6
v4.14-rc7
v4.14-rc8
v4.15
v4.15-rc1
v4.15-rc2
v4.15-rc3
v4.15-rc4
v4.15-rc5
v4.15-rc6
v4.15-rc7
v4.15-rc8
v4.15-rc9
v4.16
v4.16-rc1
v4.16-rc2
v4.16-rc3
v4.16-rc4
v4.16-rc5
v4.16-rc6
v4.16-rc7
v4.17
v4.17-rc1
v4.17-rc2
v4.17-rc3
v4.17-rc4
v4.17-rc5
v4.17-rc6
v4.17-rc7
v4.18
v4.18-rc1
v4.18-rc2
v4.18-rc3
v4.18-rc4
v4.18-rc5
v4.18-rc6
v4.18-rc7
v4.18-rc8
v4.19
v4.19-rc1
v4.19-rc2
v4.19-rc3
v4.19-rc4
v4.19-rc5
v4.19-rc6
v4.19-rc7
v4.19-rc8
v4.2
v4.2-rc1
v4.2-rc2
v4.2-rc3
v4.2-rc4
v4.2-rc5
v4.2-rc6
v4.2-rc7
v4.2-rc8
v4.20
v4.20-rc1
v4.20-rc2
v4.20-rc3
v4.20-rc4
v4.20-rc5
v4.20-rc6
v4.20-rc7
v4.3
v4.3-rc1
v4.3-rc2
v4.3-rc3
v4.3-rc4
v4.3-rc5
v4.3-rc6
v4.3-rc7
v4.4
v4.4-rc1
v4.4-rc2
v4.4-rc3
v4.4-rc4
v4.4-rc5
v4.4-rc6
v4.4-rc7
v4.4-rc8
v4.5
v4.5-rc1
v4.5-rc2
v4.5-rc3
v4.5-rc4
v4.5-rc5
v4.5-rc6
v4.5-rc7
v4.6
v4.6-rc1
v4.6-rc2
v4.6-rc3
v4.6-rc4
v4.6-rc5
v4.6-rc6
v4.6-rc7
v4.7
v4.7-rc1
v4.7-rc2
v4.7-rc3
v4.7-rc4
v4.7-rc5
v4.7-rc6
v4.7-rc7
v4.8
v4.8-rc1
v4.8-rc2
v4.8-rc3
v4.8-rc4
v4.8-rc5
v4.8-rc6
v4.8-rc7
v4.8-rc8
v4.9
v4.9-rc1
v4.9-rc2
v4.9-rc3
v4.9-rc4
v4.9-rc5
v4.9-rc6
v4.9-rc7
v4.9-rc8
v5.*
v5.0
v5.0-rc1
v5.0-rc2
v5.0-rc3
v5.0-rc4
v5.0-rc5
v5.0-rc6
v5.0-rc7
v5.0-rc8
v5.1
v5.1-rc1
v5.1-rc2
v5.1-rc3
v5.1-rc4
v5.1-rc5
v5.1-rc6
v5.1-rc7
v5.10
v5.10-rc1
v5.10-rc2
v5.10-rc3
v5.10-rc4
v5.10-rc5
v5.10-rc6
v5.10-rc7
v5.11
v5.11-rc1
v5.11-rc2
v5.11-rc3
v5.11-rc4
v5.11-rc5
v5.11-rc6
v5.11-rc7
v5.12
v5.12-rc1
v5.12-rc1-dontuse
v5.12-rc2
v5.12-rc3
v5.12-rc4
v5.12-rc5
v5.12-rc6
v5.12-rc7
v5.12-rc8
v5.13
v5.13-rc1
v5.13-rc2
v5.13-rc3
v5.13-rc4
v5.13-rc5
v5.13-rc6
v5.13-rc7
v5.14
v5.14-rc1
v5.14-rc2
v5.14-rc3
v5.14-rc4
v5.14-rc5
v5.14-rc6
v5.14-rc7
v5.15
v5.15-rc1
v5.15-rc2
v5.15-rc3
v5.15-rc4
v5.15-rc5
v5.15-rc6
v5.15-rc7
v5.16
v5.16-rc1
v5.16-rc2
v5.16-rc3
v5.16-rc4
v5.16-rc5
v5.16-rc6
v5.16-rc7
v5.16-rc8
v5.17
v5.17-rc1
v5.17-rc2
v5.17-rc3
v5.17-rc4
v5.17-rc5
v5.17-rc6
v5.17-rc7
v5.17-rc8
v5.18
v5.18-rc1
v5.18-rc2
v5.18-rc3
v5.18-rc4
v5.18-rc5
v5.18-rc6
v5.18-rc7
v5.19
v5.19-rc1
v5.19-rc2
v5.19-rc3
v5.19-rc4
v5.19-rc5
v5.19-rc6
v5.19-rc7
v5.19-rc8
v5.2
v5.2-rc1
v5.2-rc2
v5.2-rc3
v5.2-rc4
v5.2-rc5
v5.2-rc6
v5.2-rc7
v5.3
v5.3-rc1
v5.3-rc2
v5.3-rc3
v5.3-rc4
v5.3-rc5
v5.3-rc6
v5.3-rc7
v5.3-rc8
v5.4
v5.4-rc1
v5.4-rc2
v5.4-rc3
v5.4-rc4
v5.4-rc5
v5.4-rc6
v5.4-rc7
v5.4-rc8
v5.5
v5.5-rc1
v5.5-rc2
v5.5-rc3
v5.5-rc4
v5.5-rc5
v5.5-rc6
v5.5-rc7
v5.6
v5.6-rc1
v5.6-rc2
v5.6-rc3
v5.6-rc4
v5.6-rc5
v5.6-rc6
v5.6-rc7
v5.7
v5.7-rc1
v5.7-rc2
v5.7-rc3
v5.7-rc4
v5.7-rc5
v5.7-rc6
v5.7-rc7
v5.8
v5.8-rc1
v5.8-rc2
v5.8-rc3
v5.8-rc4
v5.8-rc5
v5.8-rc6
v5.8-rc7
v5.9
v5.9-rc1
v5.9-rc2
v5.9-rc3
v5.9-rc4
v5.9-rc5
v5.9-rc6
v5.9-rc7
v5.9-rc8
v6.*
v6.0
v6.0-rc1
v6.0-rc2
v6.0-rc3
v6.0-rc4
v6.0-rc5
v6.0-rc6
v6.0-rc7
v6.1
v6.1-rc1
v6.1-rc2
v6.1-rc3
v6.1-rc4
v6.1-rc5
v6.1-rc6
v6.1-rc7
v6.1-rc8
v6.10
v6.10-rc1
v6.10-rc2
v6.10-rc3
v6.10-rc4
v6.10-rc5
v6.10-rc6
v6.10-rc7
v6.11
v6.11-rc1
v6.11-rc2
v6.11-rc3
v6.11-rc4
v6.11-rc5
v6.11-rc6
v6.11-rc7
v6.12
v6.12-rc1
v6.12-rc2
v6.12-rc3
v6.12-rc4
v6.12-rc5
v6.12-rc6
v6.12-rc7
v6.12.57
v6.12.58
v6.12.59
v6.12.60
v6.12.61
v6.12.62
v6.12.63
v6.12.64
v6.12.65
v6.12.66
v6.12.67
v6.12.68
v6.13
v6.13-rc1
v6.13-rc2
v6.13-rc3
v6.13-rc4
v6.13-rc5
v6.13-rc6
v6.13-rc7
v6.14
v6.14-rc1
v6.14-rc2
v6.14-rc3
v6.14-rc4
v6.14-rc5
v6.14-rc6
v6.14-rc7
v6.15
v6.15-rc1
v6.15-rc2
v6.15-rc3
v6.15-rc4
v6.15-rc5
v6.15-rc6
v6.15-rc7
v6.16
v6.16-rc1
v6.16-rc2
v6.16-rc3
v6.16-rc4
v6.16-rc5
v6.16-rc6
v6.16-rc7
v6.17
v6.17-rc1
v6.17-rc2
v6.17-rc3
v6.17-rc4
v6.17-rc5
v6.17-rc6
v6.17-rc7
v6.17.1
v6.17.2
v6.17.3
v6.17.4
v6.17.5
v6.17.6
v6.18
v6.18-rc1
v6.18-rc2
v6.18-rc3
v6.18-rc4
v6.18-rc5
v6.18-rc6
v6.18-rc7
v6.18.1
v6.18.2
v6.18.3
v6.18.4
v6.18.5
v6.18.6
v6.18.7
v6.18.8
v6.19-rc1
v6.19-rc2
v6.19-rc3
v6.19-rc4
v6.19-rc5
v6.19-rc6
v6.19-rc7
v6.2
v6.2-rc1
v6.2-rc2
v6.2-rc3
v6.2-rc4
v6.2-rc5
v6.2-rc6
v6.2-rc7
v6.2-rc8
v6.3
v6.3-rc1
v6.3-rc2
v6.3-rc3
v6.3-rc4
v6.3-rc5
v6.3-rc6
v6.3-rc7
v6.4
v6.4-rc1
v6.4-rc2
v6.4-rc3
v6.4-rc4
v6.4-rc5
v6.4-rc6
v6.4-rc7
v6.5
v6.5-rc1
v6.5-rc2
v6.5-rc3
v6.5-rc4
v6.5-rc5
v6.5-rc6
v6.5-rc7
v6.6
v6.6-rc1
v6.6-rc2
v6.6-rc3
v6.6-rc4
v6.6-rc5
v6.6-rc6
v6.6-rc7
v6.6.116
v6.6.117
v6.6.118
v6.6.119
v6.6.120
v6.6.121
v6.6.122
v6.7
v6.7-rc1
v6.7-rc2
v6.7-rc3
v6.7-rc4
v6.7-rc5
v6.7-rc6
v6.7-rc7
v6.7-rc8
v6.8
v6.8-rc1
v6.8-rc2
v6.8-rc3
v6.8-rc4
v6.8-rc5
v6.8-rc6
v6.8-rc7
v6.9
v6.9-rc1
v6.9-rc2
v6.9-rc3
v6.9-rc4
v6.9-rc5
v6.9-rc6
v6.9-rc7

Database specific

source
"https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-23159.json"

Linux / Kernel

Package

Name
Kernel

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
0Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected
Fixed
6.6.123
Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
6.7.0
Fixed
6.12.69
Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
6.13.0
Fixed
6.18.9

Database specific

source
"https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-23159.json"