This vulnerability is a race condition in the Linux kernel's futex subsystem. During a vfork or any CLONE_VM operation, the child process can access the parent's memory management structure if a private futex hash has not yet been allocated, allowing the child to read kernel memory that should have been inaccessible. This could expose sensitive data contained in kernel structures, such as pointers, credentials, and other protected information.

All builds of the Linux kernel that do not include the fix associated with commit 5468a4855b63b30156a79e5248e01bf1a2c18dd7 – that is, every version released before that commit – are affected. The vulnerability applies to all distributions and custom kernel builds that lack this patch, including systems running older kernel releases.

The CVSS score of 7.8 indicates a high severity assessment, but the EPSS score of less than 1% suggests a low probability of exploitation. This vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog and no public exploits have been reported. An attacker would need local execution privileges to fork a process and perform a futex operation; the attack vector is therefore local. The primary risk is the potential disclosure of kernel memory contents.