What is use-after-free?
Use-after-free (UAF) - a type of attack that involves accessing memory after it has been freed
Azərbaycanca: Use-after-free (UAF) - əvvəllər azad edilmiş yaddaş sahəsinə müraciət etmək üçün istifadə olunan hücum növü
How it works
A UAF attack occurs when software attempts to access memory after it has been freed. If the memory has been reallocated or modified, this can lead to unexpected behavior, including security vulnerabilities.
Defense checklist5
- 01
Keep software and libraries up-to-date
- 02
Use coding practices that ensure memory safety
- 03
Perform security testing and audits
- 04
Use EDR solutions
- 05
Use secure methods for data access and modification
Real-world evidence
UAF vulnerabilities have been found in Google Chrome (CVE-2026-16423, CVE-2026-16806), Linux kernel (CVE-2026-64266, CVE-2026-64261, CVE-2026-53264), SQLite (CVE-2026-51302, CVE-2026-51304, CVE-2026-51297), and sqlite3 Ruby bindings (CVE-2026-54620).
Sources
- CVE-2026-16423: Use after free in UI in Google Chrome prior to 150.0.7871.182 allowed a remote attacker whnvd
- CVE-2026-16806: Use after free in WebMCP in Google Chrome prior to 150.0.7871.186 allowed a remote attackenvd
- CVE-2026-49743: Software installed and run as a non-privileged user may conduct improper GPU system callsnvd
- CVE-2026-64266: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fuse: re-lock requestnvd
- CVE-2026-64261: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fuse-uring: Avoid usenvd
- Researcher Says AI Helped Develop Linux Traffic-Control Race Into Root Exploitx_thehackersnews
- AI-Assisted Bug Hunt Uncovers Linux Kernel 0-Day in net/schedinfosecurity_mag
- CVE-2026-64534: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvmet-tcp: check INITnvd
- CVE-2026-51302: SQLite 3.41 has a use-after-free vulnerability exists in the expression evaluation logic.nvd
- CVE-2026-51304: sqlite 3.41 has a use-after-free (UAF) vulnerability in the ORDER BY clause parsing routinnvd
- CVE-2026-51297: sqlite 3.41 has a use-after-free vulnerability in the JSON parsing logic. Remote adversarinvd
- CVE-2026-54620: sqlite3 provides Ruby bindings for the SQLite3 embedded database. From 2.1.0 to 2.9.4, thenvd
Other attack types
See also6
This guide is AI-written from the real incident sources skopnix collected — the examples above are drawn from those cited items, nothing is invented.