AI Helps Discover Linux Kernel Zero-Day Enabling Root Privilege Escalation

A newly disclosed a Linux kernel zero-day, tracked as CVE-2026-53264, that can be exploited for local privilege escalation to root. The bug affects the net/sched packet scheduling subsystem and was reportedly discovered with assistance from AI during zero-day hunting and exploit development. The flaw was later patched in the Linux stable tree, but the research highlights how AI is accelerating vulnerability discovery in complex kernel code. At the core of the issue is a…