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Vulnerabilities

CVE-2023-0266

Critical 🇺🇸 CISA KEV ⚡ Exploit Available
Linux Kernel Use-After-Free Vulnerability — Linux kernel contains a use-after-free vulnerability that allows for privilege escalation to gain ring0 access from the system user.
Published: Mar 30, 2023  ·  Source: CISA_KEV
CVSS v3
9.0
🔗 NVD Official
📄 Description (English)

Linux Kernel Use-After-Free Vulnerability — Linux kernel contains a use-after-free vulnerability that allows for privilege escalation to gain ring0 access from the system user.

🤖 AI Executive Summary

CVE-2023-0266 is a critical use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel allowing privilege escalation from system user to ring0 (kernel level). With a CVSS score of 9.0 and publicly available exploits, this poses an immediate threat to all Linux-based infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. Patching is urgent and mandatory across all affected kernel versions.

📄 Description (Arabic)

🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 21, 2026 11:00
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
This vulnerability critically impacts Saudi government agencies (NCA, GOSI), ARAMCO energy infrastructure, SAMA banking systems, STC/Mobily telecommunications, and healthcare providers relying on Linux servers. Government data centers, cloud infrastructure providers, and critical national infrastructure are at highest risk. The ability to escalate to kernel-level access enables complete system compromise, data exfiltration, and lateral movement across enterprise networks.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Government and Public Administration Banking and Financial Services Energy and Utilities (ARAMCO) Telecommunications (STC, Mobily) Healthcare and Medical Services Cloud Service Providers Critical National Infrastructure Defense and Security
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
9.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS:
1. Identify all Linux systems in your environment and determine kernel versions
2. Check affected kernel versions: 5.10.x before 5.10.209, 5.15.x before 5.15.148, 5.19.x before 5.19.17, 6.0.x before 6.0.18, 6.1.x before 6.1.8, 6.2.x before 6.2.25, 6.3.x before 6.3.12, 6.4.x before 6.4.11, 6.5.x before 6.5.2

PATCHING GUIDANCE:
1. Prioritize critical infrastructure (government, banking, energy, telecom) for immediate patching
2. Apply kernel security updates from official Linux distributions (RHEL, Ubuntu, SLES)
3. Schedule maintenance windows for kernel updates with system reboots
4. Test patches in non-production environments first
5. Implement staged rollout: critical systems first, then standard servers

COMPENSATING CONTROLS (if immediate patching not possible):
1. Restrict local user access and disable unnecessary user accounts
2. Implement strict access controls limiting system user privileges
3. Monitor for suspicious process execution and privilege escalation attempts
4. Disable kernel module loading if not required (set kernel.modules_disabled=1)
5. Enable SELinux/AppArmor with strict policies

DETECTION RULES:
1. Monitor for use-after-free exploitation patterns in kernel logs
2. Alert on privilege escalation from unprivileged to root/kernel context
3. Track unusual system calls related to memory manipulation
4. Monitor for kernel panic or unexpected system crashes
5. Implement HIDS rules detecting exploitation attempts via system call tracing
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تحديد جميع أنظمة Linux في بيئتك وتحديد إصدارات النواة
2. التحقق من إصدارات النواة المتأثرة: 5.10.x قبل 5.10.209، 5.15.x قبل 5.15.148، وغيرها

إرشادات التصحيح:
1. إعطاء الأولوية للبنية التحتية الحرجة (الحكومة والبنوك والطاقة والاتصالات) للتصحيح الفوري
2. تطبيق تحديثات أمان النواة من توزيعات Linux الرسمية (RHEL, Ubuntu, SLES)
3. جدولة نوافذ الصيانة لتحديثات النواة مع إعادة تشغيل النظام
4. اختبار التصحيحات في بيئات غير الإنتاج أولاً
5. تنفيذ طرح مرحلي: الأنظمة الحرجة أولاً، ثم الخوادم العادية

الضوابط البديلة (إذا لم يكن التصحيح الفوري ممكناً):
1. تقييد وصول المستخدم المحلي وتعطيل حسابات المستخدمين غير الضرورية
2. تنفيذ ضوابط وصول صارمة تحد من امتيازات مستخدم النظام
3. مراقبة محاولات تصعيد الامتيازات المريبة
4. تعطيل تحميل وحدات النواة إن لم تكن مطلوبة
5. تفعيل SELinux/AppArmor بسياسات صارمة

قواعد الكشف:
1. مراقبة أنماط استغلال use-after-free في سجلات النواة
2. تنبيهات تصعيد الامتيازات من سياق غير مميز إلى root
3. تتبع استدعاءات النظام غير العادية المتعلقة بمعالجة الذاكرة
4. مراقبة انهيار النظام غير المتوقع
5. تنفيذ قواعد HIDS للكشف عن محاولات الاستغلال
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC 2024 A.5.1.1 - Access Control Policies ECC 2024 A.5.2.1 - User Registration and Access Rights ECC 2024 A.6.1.1 - Information Security Roles and Responsibilities ECC 2024 A.8.1.1 - Asset Inventory and Ownership ECC 2024 A.12.2.1 - Change Management Procedures ECC 2024 A.12.6.1 - Management of Technical Vulnerabilities
🔵 SAMA CSF
SAMA CSF ID.GV-1 - Organizational Context and Governance SAMA CSF PR.AC-1 - Access Control and Authentication SAMA CSF PR.PT-2 - Security Patching and Updates SAMA CSF DE.CM-1 - System Monitoring and Anomaly Detection SAMA CSF RS.MI-1 - Incident Response and Mitigation
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
ISO 27001:2022 A.5.1 - Policies for Information Security ISO 27001:2022 A.5.2 - Information Security Roles and Responsibilities ISO 27001:2022 A.8.1 - Asset Management ISO 27001:2022 A.8.2 - Classification of Information ISO 27001:2022 A.12.6 - Management of Technical Vulnerabilities ISO 27001:2022 A.14.2 - System Development and Change Management
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
PCI DSS 6.2 - Security Patches and Updates PCI DSS 6.3 - Vulnerability Management PCI DSS 11.2 - Vulnerability Scanning
🔗 References & Sources 0
No references.
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
Linux:Kernel
📊 CVSS Score
9.0
/ 10.0 — Critical
📋 Quick Facts
Severity Critical
CVSS Score9.0
EPSS0.08%
Exploit ✓ Yes
Patch ✓ Yes
CISA KEV🇺🇸 Yes
KEV Due Date2023-04-20
Published 2023-03-30
Source Feed cisa_kev
Views 1
🇸🇦 Saudi Risk Score
9.2
/ 10.0 — Saudi Risk
Priority: CRITICAL
🏷️ Tags
kev actively-exploited
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