CVE-2026-68381: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-gq9g-pv9h-2q5v
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-416
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-68381 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-416: Use After Free) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. at some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-68381 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-68381
GHSA Identifier GHSA-gq9g-pv9h-2q5v
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-416: Use After Free
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-68381

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-68381, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-416: Use After Free, where the product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. at some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: pin conn during async oplock break notification smb2_oplock_break_noti() and smb2_lease_break_noti() store a ksmbd_conn pointer in an async ksmbd_work and then queue that work on ksmbd-io. The work only increments conn->r_count, which prevents teardown from passing the pending-request wait after the increment, but it does not pin the struct ksmbd_conn object. If connection teardown races with an oplock break notification, the last conn reference can be dropped before the queued worker finishes. The worker then uses the freed conn in ksmbd_conn_write() and ksmbd_conn_r_count_dec(). Take a real conn reference when publishing the conn pointer to the async work item, and drop it after the notification work has decremented r_count. Apply the same lifetime rule to lease break notification, which uses the same work->conn pattern.

References

NVD — CVE-2026-68381 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68381
git.kernel.org/stable/c/0f72fc9659... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0f72fc9659d7f585460d43c158055df5afdcffb6
git.kernel.org/stable/c/14062c74e5... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/14062c74e5b25c27edcff7a2fe0dc701c930b372
git.kernel.org/stable/c/6ecb252efa... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6ecb252efa0b413ac3d9979fb4eec247f8fc1258
git.kernel.org/stable/c/793e1c7041... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/793e1c7041b93af96ff87e678329bc16aee7ba88
git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa5d8f3f96... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa5d8f3f96aa11a4a54ce993c11ce8af11c546f9

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-68381?
CVE-2026-68381 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-416: Use After Free.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2026-68381?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-68381?
CVE-2026-68381 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-68381?
CVE-2026-68381 is classified under CWE-416: Use After Free (The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-68381?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
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  "id" : "GHSA-gq9g-pv9h-2q5v",
  "modified" : "2026-08-14T00:31:56Z",
  "published" : "2026-08-10T15:33:49Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-68381" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nksmbd: pin conn during async oplock break notification\n\nsmb2_oplock_break_noti() and smb2_lease_break_noti() store a ksmbd_conn\npointer in an async ksmbd_work and then queue that work on ksmbd-io.  The\nwork only increments conn->r_count, which prevents teardown from passing\nthe pending-request wait after the increment, but it does not pin the\nstruct ksmbd_conn object.\n\nIf connection teardown races with an oplock break notification, the last\nconn reference can be dropped before the queued worker finishes.  The\nworker then uses the freed conn in ksmbd_conn_write() and\nksmbd_conn_r_count_dec().\n\nTake a real conn reference when publishing the conn pointer to the async\nwork item, and drop it after the notification work has decremented\nr_count.  Apply the same lifetime rule to lease break notification, which\nuses the same work->conn pattern.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
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