CVE-2026-53361

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's af_unix component. A race condition exists within the unix_gc() garbage collection function where the gc_in_progress flag may not be correctly set. This could lead to unix_peek_fpl() misinterpreting garbage collection status when handling MSG_PEEK operations, potentially causing unexpected behavior or information disclosure to a local attacker.

This vulnerability is rated as an Important severity because an authenticated local user can exploit this concurrency issue in socket garbage collection to corrupt kernel memory, potentially resulting in privilege escalation or denial of service. The underlying socket garbage collection routine improperly synchronizes status flags during concurrent peek operations on UNIX domain sockets. Systems running standard enterprise distributions such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and 9 are unaffected as they do not incorporate the regressed code path.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.