CVE-2026-5398
Local privilege escalation via dangling TIOCNOTTY pointer
Is CVE-2026-5398 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-5398 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.17% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-5398?
CVE-2026-5398 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.4. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-5398?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-5398. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-5398 affect?
CVE-2026-5398 affects Unix-like OS kernels implementing TIOCNOTTY. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-5398?
Apply kernel updates addressing TIOCNOTTY handling; monitor for exploits
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Local attacker can gain root by abusing a dangling TIOCNOTTY pointer after terminal process exit.
Patch when possible
- affected>= 15.0-RELEASE and < p6
- affected>= 14.4-RELEASE and < p2
- affected>= 14.3-RELEASE and < p11
- affected>= 13.5-RELEASE and < p12
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.