What were the notable Linux updates?

Merge tag 'v7.1-rc5-smb3-client-fixes' of git://git.samba.org/sfrench/cifs-2.6, Merge tag 'io_uring-7.1-20260522' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/axboe/linux, and Merge tag 'pm-7.1-rc5' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/rafael/linux-pm.

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The Wire · Showcase

KERNEL RC5 CLOSES CRITICAL GAPS IN SMB, IO_URING, AND POWER MANAGEMENT

By RepoJournal · Filed 06:02 UTC on May 23, 2026 · About Linux

Linus pulled three major subsystem fixes overnight that address use-after-free vulnerabilities, uninitialized data leaks to userspace, and frequency computation bugs that affect millions of Intel workstations.

The SMB client stack got its teeth back with a security hardening pass [1], plugging a missing lock condition and a dangerous dentry-after-unmount scenario that could leave dangling references. The io_uring team shipped critical fixes [2] for IORING_OP_WAITID, where uninitialized kernel state was bleeding into userspace, plus a lockdep violation that could deadlock under contention. Power management saw dual fixes [3] for intel_pstate's maximum frequency calculation on Raptor Lake-E and Bartlett Lake, a bug that silently underclocks entire processor families. The DRM subsystem pulled in the usual cleanup work [4] with amdgpu and xe getting their share of fixes, while the block layer plugged a use-after-free in zone resource teardown [5] that could corrupt the worker thread state on zoned devices. This RC5 closes the gap between the current code and production readiness, with no padding.

Action items

→ Rebuild with SMB client fixes before deploying any CIFS-dependent infrastructure torvalds/linux [immediate]
→ Test io_uring workloads with IORING_OP_WAITID under load to confirm lockdep fix torvalds/linux [plan]
→ Verify intel_pstate frequency scaling on Raptor Lake-E if you're running that silicon torvalds/linux [monitor]

References

[1] Merge tag 'v7.1-rc5-smb3-client-fixes' of git://git.samba.org/sfrench/cifs-2.6 torvalds/linux
[2] Merge tag 'io_uring-7.1-20260522' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/axboe/linux torvalds/linux
[3] Merge tag 'pm-7.1-rc5' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/rafael/linux-pm torvalds/linux
[4] Merge tag 'drm-fixes-2026-05-23' of https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm/kernel torvalds/linux
[5] block: avoid use-after-free in disk_free_zone_resources() torvalds/linux

Quick answers

What shipped in Linux on May 23, 2026?: Linus pulled three major subsystem fixes overnight that address use-after-free vulnerabilities, uninitialized data leaks to userspace, and frequency computation bugs that affect millions of Intel workstations. In total, 27 commits landed.
What were the notable Linux updates?: Merge tag 'v7.1-rc5-smb3-client-fixes' of git://git.samba.org/sfrench/cifs-2.6, Merge tag 'io_uring-7.1-20260522' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/axboe/linux, and Merge tag 'pm-7.1-rc5' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/rafael/linux-pm.

IO_URING FIXES AND SOCKMAP USE-AFTER-FREE PATCH LAND IN 7.2-RC

Linus merged critical io_uring corrections and a high-impact sockmap race condition fix that closes a threading vulnerability in TCP BPF message handling.

infra 83 shipped 1-min read

Linux 1 day ago

KERNEL PATCHES CLOSE NAMESPACE PRIVILEGE ESCALATION GAPS IN TUNNEL DRIVERS

Two critical fixes close a privilege escalation hole in VXLAN and GENEVE tunnel changelink operations that allowed unprivileged callers in one namespace to rewrite devices whose underlay lives elsewhere.

infra 100 shipped 1-min read

Linux 2 days ago

WATCHDOG UAF AND DIVISION-BY-ZERO FIXES LAND IN V7.2-RC5

Linus merged critical watchdog subsystem patches addressing a use-after-free vulnerability and a zero-division crash that could tank embedded systems in production.

infra 40 shipped 1-min read

Linux 3 days ago

KERNEL RC5 LANDS WITH HWMON FIXES AND KVM STABILITY PATCHES

Linux 7.2-rc5 rolls out critical hardware monitoring fixes and RISC-V virtualization patches that tighten KVM stability across multiple architectures.

infra 47 shipped 2-min read

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