Highly exploitable, CVE-2026-53265 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.
Status: Analyzed
Last updated: 🕓 08 Jul 2026, 04:02 UTC
Originally published on: 🕘 25 Jun 2026, 09:16 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 12 days
CVSS Release: version 3
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Secondary
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2026-53265: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm cache policy smq: check allocation under invalidate lock commit 2d1f7b65f5de ("dm cache policy smq: fix missing locks in invalidating cache blocks") added mq->lock around the destructive part of smq_invalidate_mapping(), but left the e->allocated check outside the critical section. That leaves a check-then-act race. Two concurrent invalidators can both observe e->allocated as true before either of them takes mq->lock. The first invalidator that acquires the lock removes the entry from the queues and hash table and then calls free_entry(), which clears e->allocated and puts the entry back on the free list. The second invalidator can then acquire mq->lock and continue with the stale result of the unlocked check. This can corrupt the SMQ queues or hash table by deleting an entry that is no longer on those structures. It can also hit the allocation check in free_entry() when the same entry is freed again. Move the allocation check under mq->lock so the predicate and the destructive operations are serialized by the same lock.
The exploitability of CVE-2026-53265 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
CVE-2026-53265 presents an accessible attack vector with minimal effort required. Restricting access controls and implementing security updates are critical to reducing exploitation risks.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2026-53265, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2026-53265, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
NVD-CWE-noinfo
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