
A 16-year-old bug in the Linux kernel lets a rented VM break out and attack the host it runs on. Intel and AMD alike. Januscape is a use-after-free vulnerability in the KVM code that has been sitting there since 2010.
A 16-year-old bug in the Linux kernel lets a rented VM break out and attack the host it runs on.
Januscape is a use-after-free vulnerability in the KVM code that has been sitting there since 2010.
Using the exploit-check.sh script, we can get more vuln info about the Linux Kernel vulnerability - CVE-2026-53359.
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ndouglas-cloudsmith/exploit-check/refs/heads/main/exploit-check.sh
chmod +x exploit-check.sh
./exploit-check.sh update
./exploit-check.sh query CVE-2026-53359 --full
./exploit-check.sh query CVE-2026-46113 --full
./exploit-check.sh query CVE-2016-5195 --full --package-info
At the time of writing, there was No CVSS Score or any Known Exploited Vulnerabilities for this flaw.
Neither NVD (referenced above) nor Kernel.org have published their own CVSS scores for this issue.
Canonical calculated it as an 8.4 CVSS and we have seen others publish scores of 7.8, 8.8, and even 9.3
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ndouglas-cloudsmith/ExploitPwned/refs/heads/main/exploitPwned.sh
chmod +x exploitPwned.sh
./exploitPwned.sh update
./exploitPwned.sh CVE-2026-53359
./exploitPwned.sh CVE-2026-46113
./exploitPwned.sh CVE-2016-5195 --details

Using the exploitPwned.sh script, we can see that certain users have already exploited the vulnerability. In one scenario, instead of modifying the kernel source code or replacing functions, a Chinese threat research used a text_poke binary hotpatch (NOP Patch) method that directly modifies the vulnerable instructions inside active kernel memory.
| Repository | URL |
|---|---|
Aoripus-LTD/Januscape-Hotfix | https://github.com/Aoripus-LTD/Januscape-Hotfix |
0xBlackash/CVE-2026-53359 | https://github.com/0xBlackash/CVE-2026-53359 |
chuzhongyun/CVE-2026-53359-Kernel-Fix | https://github.com/chuzhongyun/CVE-2026-53359-Kernel-Fix |
xj2268-TA/KVM-Januscape | https://github.com/xj2268-TA/KVM-Januscape |
HORKimhab/CVE-2026-53359 | https://github.com/HORKimhab/CVE-2026-53359 |