CVE-2026-53287
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: audit: fix incorrect inheritable capability in CAPSET records __audit_log_capset() records the effective capability set into the inheritable field due to a copy-paste error. Every CAPSET audit record therefore reports cap_pi (process inheritable) with the value of cap_effective instead of cap_inheritable. This silently corrupts audit data used for compliance and forensic analysis: an attacker who modifies inheritable capabilities to prepare for a privilege-escalating exec would have the change masked in the audit trail. The bug has been present since the original introduction of CAPSET audit records in 2008.
No public exploitation has been reported so far. A fixed version is available (see the table below).
Recommended action: Update to the fixed version listed for your distribution using the native package manager.
Severity metrics
CVSS 3.1 : 5.5 MEDIUM
Vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Affected & fixed versions by distribution
Versions are the native distribution strings (backport-aware): RHEL/Debian/SUSE backport fixes, so compare with the distro version comparator (dpkg / rpm / vercmp), not the upstream version.
| Distribution | Package | Affected | Fixed version | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUSE:Linux Micro 6.2 | kernel-default-base | - | 6.12.0-160000.36.1.160000.2.17 | fixed |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-default | - | 6.12.0-160000.36.1 | fixed |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-default-base | - | 6.12.0-160000.36.1.160000.2.17 | fixed |