UBUNTU-CVE-2026-99223: Medium severity ubuntu/linux vulnerability
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: keys: make keyring indexes independent of kernel addresses KEYCTLREAD returns the serial numbers in a keyring in associative-array traversal order. The first word of the index is a public, deterministic hash of the type pointer, domain pointer and description. An unprivileged user can therefore insert keys with known descriptions, predict their order for each possible KASLR slide, and recover the kernel image address. On an x86-64 build with 16 MiB alignment, 45 user keys suffice to distinguish the candidate slides. Remove the addresses from the whole index, not just its first hash word. Assign each key type and domain a nonzero 64-bit ID and hash those IDs and the description with a once-initialized SipHash key. Use the full IDs in the later index chunks as well. Truncating or hashing the IDs there would lose the guarantee that distinct type/domain/description tuples have a differing index bit. Allocate IDs lazily since private key types need not be registered. Cache them in the index key so tree walks and copies of an existing index do not need to dereference a type descriptor that may have been unregistered. Keep the 32-bit chunk layout and diffobjects() bit offsets consistent, and retain the separate root slot for keyrings used by recursive search. The key comparison, permissions and userspace data format are unchanged; only the address-dependent in-memory ordering is replaced.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Compensating control
Make Linux keyring indexes independent of kernel addresses by assigning each key type and domain a nonzero 64-bit ID, hashing those IDs and the description with a once-initialized SipHash key, caching the results in the index key, removing addresses from the entire index, and using the full IDs in later index chunks while preserving the 32-bit chunk layout, diff_objects() bit offsets, and separate root slot for recursive keyring search.
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can exploit this issue?
An unprivileged local user who can insert keys with known descriptions and read keyring serial numbers via KEYCTL_READ can use the traversal order to infer the kernel image address.
What information can exploitation disclose?
The issue can reveal the kernel image address by allowing an attacker to distinguish possible KASLR slides. The description gives an x86-64 example where 45 user keys can distinguish candidates on builds using 16 MiB alignment.
Are cloud and FIPS Ubuntu kernel variants in scope?
Yes. The affected software list includes Ubuntu linux, linux-fips, linux-aws, linux-azure, linux-gcp, linux-oracle, linux-aws-fips, and linux-azure-fips.
What change resolves the exposure?
The resolution removes kernel addresses from keyring index construction. It assigns nonzero 64-bit IDs to key types and domains and hashes those IDs with the key description using a once-initialized SipHash key.