Affects the Linux kernel, a widely deployed OS; kernel memory corruption (RCE/DoS) would impact many organizations and infrastructure.
CVE-2026-80981
Use-after-free in Linux SMC leads to kernel memory corruption (RCE/DoS).
Is CVE-2026-80981 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-80981 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 0.59% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-80981?
CVE-2026-80981 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.8. 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-2026-80981?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-80981. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-80981 affect?
CVE-2026-80981 affects Linux kernel (net/smc module), SMC/SMC-R implementations, rxe (software RDMA). Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-80981?
Apply vendor/kernel updates or backport SMC patch and reboot affected hosts.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
SMC net subsystem use-after-free enables kernel memory corruption, allowing system crash or potential remote kernel code execution.
Immediate action required
- affected>= 27ef6a9981fe74191849966a6d5e0400a4008ab8 and < c52a998a223e7e84333306996edec096178d1e95
- affected>= 27ef6a9981fe74191849966a6d5e0400a4008ab8 and < adef84cc85d449ac28d2b4b4c49cf19619c56e27
- affected>= 27ef6a9981fe74191849966a6d5e0400a4008ab8 and < a42a459ef0e54cb0c4b3e43e21cb0e658e664f64
- affected6.14
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.