CVE-2026-68096: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

HIGH

Advisory Identifier: GHSA-mpg4-cv8q-2gfg

CVSS 7.5

Published 2026-08-10

Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-68096 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-68096 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-68096

GHSA Identifier GHSA-mpg4-cv8q-2gfg

Severity HIGH

CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5

CWE Classification CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')

Affected Product Software

Package Ecosystem Maven

Published Date 2026-08-10

Last Updated 2026-08-23

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

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:N/I:N/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 None (C:N)

Integrity None (I:N)

Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-68096

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-2026-68096, 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-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop'), where the product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop. 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: audit: fix recursive locking deadlock in audit_dupe_exe() A deadlock occurs in the audit subsystem when duplicating executable-related rules. When a file is moved (e.g., via do_renameat2()), the VFS layer locks the parent directory (I_MUTEX_PARENT), which synchronously triggers an fsnotify_move event. If an existing executable audit rule matches the file being moved, the audit subsystem catches this event and calls audit_dupe_exe() to duplicate the watch and update the rule. Then, audit_alloc_mark() would call kern_path_parent() to resolve the path, leading to a blind attempt to acquire the exact same I_MUTEX_PARENT lock already held by the task, resulting in the following recursive locking deadlock: ============================================ WARNING: possible recursive locking detected 6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0.x86_64+debug #1 Not tainted -------------------------------------------- mv/5099 is trying to acquire lock: ffff888132845358 (&inode->i_sb->s_type->i_mutex_dir_key/1){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: __kern_path_locked+0x10a/0x2f0 but task is already holding lock: ffff888132846b58 (&inode->i_sb->s_type->i_mutex_dir_key/1){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: lock_two_directories+0x13f/0x2b0 other info that might help us debug this: Possible unsafe locking scenario: CPU0 ---- lock(&inode->i_sb->s_type->i_mutex_dir_key/1); lock(&inode->i_sb->s_type->i_mutex_dir_key/1); *** DEADLOCK *** May be due to missing lock nesting notation 6 locks held by mv/5099: #0: ffff888112a9c440 (sb_writers#13) at: do_renameat2+0x34c/0xbc0 #1: ffff888112a9c790 (&type->s_vfs_rename_key#3) at: do_renameat2+0x415/0xbc0 #2: ffff888132846b58 (&inode->i_sb->s_type->i_mutex_dir_key/1) at: lock_two_directories+0x13f/0x2b0 #3: ffff888132845358 (&inode->i_sb->s_type->i_mutex_dir_key/5) at: lock_two_directories+0x175/0x2b0 #4: ffffffffb3a1fb10 (&fsnotify_mark_srcu) at: fsnotify+0x454/0x28a0 #5: ffffffffaf886230 (audit_filter_mutex) at: audit_update_watch+0x36/0x11e0 stack backtrace: Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x6f/0xb0 print_deadlock_bug.cold+0xbd/0xca validate_chain+0x83a/0xf00 __lock_acquire+0xcac/0x1d20 lock_acquire.part.0+0x11b/0x360 down_write_nested+0x9f/0x230 __kern_path_locked+0x10a/0x2f0 kern_path_locked+0x26/0x40 audit_alloc_mark+0xfb/0x4f0 audit_dupe_exe+0x6c/0xe0 audit_dupe_rule+0x6c2/0xc00 audit_update_watch+0x4cc/0x11e0 audit_watch_handle_event+0x12c/0x1b0 send_to_group+0x5d0/0x8b0 fsnotify+0x615/0x28a0 fsnotify_move+0x1d8/0x630 vfs_rename+0xdcd/0x1df0 do_renameat2+0x9d4/0xbc0 __x64_sys_renameat+0x192/0x260 do_syscall_64+0x92/0x180 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e RIP: 0033:0x7f0491fe8c4e Code: 0f 1f 40 00 48 8b 15 c1 e1 16 00 f7 d8 64 89 02 b8 ff ff ff ff c3 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 f3 0f 1e fa 49 89 ca b8 08 01 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 00 f0 ff ff 77 0a c3 66 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 48 8b 15 89 RSP: 002b:00007ffc7210bf38 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000108 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007f0491fe8c4e RDX: 0000000000000003 RSI: 00007ffc7210e6c8 RDI: 00000000ffffff9c RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000001 R10: 00005575eb2dae2a R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00005575eb2dae2a R13: 00007ffc7210e6c8 R14: 0000000000000003 R15: 00000000ffffff9c </TASK> The aforementioned deadlock can be consistently reproduced by running the script below: audit-dupe-exe-deadlock.sh -------------------------- #!/bin/bash auditctl -D mkdir -p /tmp/foo touch /tmp/file auditctl -a always,exit -F exe=/tmp/file -F path=/tmp/file -S all -k dr mv /tmp/file /tmp/foo/file rm -Rf /tmp/foo This patch fixes the issue by introducing struct audit_watch_ctx to pass the fsnotify event context down to audit_alloc_mark(). By utilizing the already-resolved directory inode provided by the event, we bypass the kern_path_parent() path resol ---truncated---

References

NVD — CVE-2026-68096 NVD

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68096

git.kernel.org/stable/c/36eb77f14b... WEB

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36eb77f14b4e6f2dc1008c1fabe31236397be27a

git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b60193831... WEB

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b601938314c24fcd1afb6659cad92fe96c9c2f8

git.kernel.org/stable/c/3bbb4931f7... WEB

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3bbb4931f7cd84cecf29ec222c0732bf9ad4da9f

git.kernel.org/stable/c/40879c39d6... WEB

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/40879c39d6740f3dddfb52b5d6ba7fb8cceb84d8

git.kernel.org/stable/c/6114c3f21e... WEB

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6114c3f21eb2ae175401736da744b684705e7ed9

git.kernel.org/stable/c/7d1f66c698... WEB

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7d1f66c69898ffb1a718926c32a777ecc471caca

git.kernel.org/stable/c/81905b5acb... WEB

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/81905b5acbe77284734438df3fbec1158e6429a3

git.kernel.org/stable/c/f6fda0ac66... WEB

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f6fda0ac6661c23b8356dfb1cc423960cc6f0593

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-68096?

CVE-2026-68096 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop').

Which Software versions are affected?

Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.

What version fixes CVE-2026-68096?

Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-68096?

CVE-2026-68096 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-68096?

CVE-2026-68096 is classified under CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') (The product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop.).

How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-68096?

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

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-mpg4-cv8q-2gfg",
  "modified" : "2026-08-23T15:32:56Z",
  "published" : "2026-08-10T15:33:35Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-68096" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\naudit: fix recursive locking deadlock in audit_dupe_exe()\n\nA deadlock occurs in the audit subsystem when duplicating\nexecutable-related rules.\n\nWhen a file is moved (e.g., via do_renameat2()), the VFS layer locks\nthe parent directory (I_MUTEX_PARENT), which synchronously triggers an\nfsnotify_move event. If an existing executable audit rule matches the\nfile being moved, the audit subsystem catches this event and calls\naudit_dupe_exe() to duplicate the watch and update the rule. Then,\naudit_alloc_mark() would call kern_path_parent() to resolve the path,\nleading to a blind attempt to acquire the exact same I_MUTEX_PARENT lock\nalready held by the task, resulting in the following recursive locking\ndeadlock:\n\n ============================================\n WARNING: possible recursive locking detected\n 6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0.x86_64+debug #1 Not tainted\n --------------------------------------------\n mv/5099 is trying to acquire lock:\n ffff888132845358 (&inode->i_sb->s_type->i_mutex_dir_key/1){+.+.}-{3:3},\n at: __kern_path_locked+0x10a/0x2f0\n\n but task is already holding lock:\n ffff888132846b58 (&inode->i_sb->s_type->i_mutex_dir_key/1){+.+.}-{3:3},\n at: lock_two_directories+0x13f/0x2b0\n\n other info that might help us debug this:\n  Possible unsafe locking scenario:\n\n        CPU0\n        ----\n   lock(&inode->i_sb->s_type->i_mutex_dir_key/1);\n   lock(&inode->i_sb->s_type->i_mutex_dir_key/1);\n\n  *** DEADLOCK ***\n\n  May be due to missing lock nesting notation\n\n  6 locks held by mv/5099:\n  #0: ffff888112a9c440 (sb_writers#13)\n  at: do_renameat2+0x34c/0xbc0\n  #1: ffff888112a9c790 (&type->s_vfs_rename_key#3)\n  at: do_renameat2+0x415/0xbc0\n  #2: ffff888132846b58 (&inode->i_sb->s_type->i_mutex_dir_key/1)\n  at: lock_two_directories+0x13f/0x2b0\n  #3: ffff888132845358 (&inode->i_sb->s_type->i_mutex_dir_key/5)\n  at: lock_two_directories+0x175/0x2b0\n  #4: ffffffffb3a1fb10 (&fsnotify_mark_srcu)\n  at: fsnotify+0x454/0x28a0\n  #5: ffffffffaf886230 (audit_filter_mutex)\n  at: audit_update_watch+0x36/0x11e0\n\n stack backtrace:\n Call Trace:\n  <TASK>\n  dump_stack_lvl+0x6f/0xb0\n  print_deadlock_bug.cold+0xbd/0xca\n  validate_chain+0x83a/0xf00\n  __lock_acquire+0xcac/0x1d20\n  lock_acquire.part.0+0x11b/0x360\n  down_write_nested+0x9f/0x230\n  __kern_path_locked+0x10a/0x2f0\n  kern_path_locked+0x26/0x40\n  audit_alloc_mark+0xfb/0x4f0\n  audit_dupe_exe+0x6c/0xe0\n  audit_dupe_rule+0x6c2/0xc00\n  audit_update_watch+0x4cc/0x11e0\n  audit_watch_handle_event+0x12c/0x1b0\n  send_to_group+0x5d0/0x8b0\n  fsnotify+0x615/0x28a0\n  fsnotify_move+0x1d8/0x630\n  vfs_rename+0xdcd/0x1df0\n  do_renameat2+0x9d4/0xbc0\n  __x64_sys_renameat+0x192/0x260\n  do_syscall_64+0x92/0x180\n  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e\n RIP: 0033:0x7f0491fe8c4e\n Code: 0f 1f 40 00 48 8b 15 c1 e1 16 00 f7 d8 64 89 02 b8 ff ff ff ff\n c3 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 f3 0f 1e fa 49 89 ca b8 08 01 00 00 0f 05 <48>\n 3d 00 f0 ff ff 77 0a c3 66 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 48 8b 15 89\n RSP: 002b:00007ffc7210bf38 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000108\n RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007f0491fe8c4e\n RDX: 0000000000000003 RSI: 00007ffc7210e6c8 RDI: 00000000ffffff9c\n RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000001\n R10: 00005575eb2dae2a R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00005575eb2dae2a\n R13: 00007ffc7210e6c8 R14: 0000000000000003 R15: 00000000ffffff9c\n  </TASK>\n\nThe aforementioned deadlock can be consistently reproduced by running\nthe script below:\n\n audit-dupe-exe-deadlock.sh\n --------------------------\n #!/bin/bash\n auditctl -D\n mkdir -p /tmp/foo\n touch /tmp/file\n auditctl -a always,exit -F exe=/tmp/file -F path=/tmp/file -S all -k dr\n mv /tmp/file /tmp/foo/file\n rm -Rf /tmp/foo\n\nThis patch fixes the issue by introducing struct audit_watch_ctx to pass\nthe fsnotify event context down to audit_alloc_mark(). By utilizing the\nalready-resolved directory inode provided by the event, we bypass the\nkern_path_parent() path resol\n---truncated---",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68096"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36eb77f14b4e6f2dc1008c1fabe31236397be27a"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b601938314c24fcd1afb6659cad92fe96c9c2f8"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3bbb4931f7cd84cecf29ec222c0732bf9ad4da9f"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/40879c39d6740f3dddfb52b5d6ba7fb8cceb84d8"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6114c3f21eb2ae175401736da744b684705e7ed9"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7d1f66c69898ffb1a718926c32a777ecc471caca"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/81905b5acbe77284734438df3fbec1158e6429a3"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f6fda0ac6661c23b8356dfb1cc423960cc6f0593"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-835" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-08-10T13:19:53Z"
  }
}

CVSS V3

7.5 HIGH