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Linux Kernel CVE-2026-72419

| EUVDEUVD-2026-59318 HIGH
2026-08-15 Linux GHSA-mpg4-7mw3-ccvq
Buffer Overflow Linux Debian
7.8
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Linux
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Recon
    Obtain CAP_NET_ADMIN locally or in container
  2. Delivery
    Trigger or await nf_nat_init() failure condition
  3. Exploit
    Send crafted nfnetlink Netlink message
  4. Install
    nf_tables_newchain invokes nf_nat_register_fn()
  5. C2
    Dereference invalid nat_net pointer (slab OOB read)
  6. Execute
    Kernel memory corruption
  7. Impact
    Privilege escalation to root

Vulnerability Assessment

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires: (1) local access to the target system or a container with CAP_NET_ADMIN capability in a network namespace; (2) the Linux kernel nf_nat module's initialization (nf_nat_init) must have previously encountered a failure, leaving the nat_net pointer in an invalid state - this is the critical prerequisite that limits exploitability to specific kernel states or race conditions during module load; (3) the attacker must be able to invoke nftables chain creation via Netlink (nfnetlink), which requires CAP_NET_ADMIN. Exploitation is NOT possible by remote unauthenticated attackers, and is NOT possible by local users without CAP_NET_ADMIN or equivalent. The nf_nat_init() failure condition is the primary limiting factor - on stable, fully-initialized systems this failure path may be difficult to trigger reliably, making exploitation non-trivial despite the AC:L CVSS rating.
Impact

The NVD CVSS 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) accurately describes local privilege escalation potential typical of kernel memory corruption bugs. However, real-world risk is substantially lower than the score implies: EPSS is 0.21% (12th percentile), the vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV, no public PoC or exploit code has been identified, and exploitation requires the nf_nat_init() failure code path to be reachable - a condition that depends on the specific kernel build state and initialization ordering. The PR:L metric corresponds to CAP_NET_ADMIN, a capability that unprivileged users do not hold by default on hardened systems. The primary elevated-risk scenario is containerized workloads where tenants hold CAP_NET_ADMIN within a network namespace, enabling the nftables chain-creation trigger without host-level root. No conflict exists between the CVSS vector and the description - both consistently indicate local, low-privilege access. Patches are confirmed available across all active stable branches, reducing residual risk for patched deployments to negligible.
Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker with a local shell on a Linux host running an unpatched kernel - or a container tenant with CAP_NET_ADMIN in a network namespace - sends a crafted nfnetlink Netlink message to create an nftables chain, triggering the nf_nat_register_fn() code path. If nf_nat_init() previously failed during kernel initialization, the invalid nat_net pointer is dereferenced, causing an out-of-bounds kernel heap read that can be leveraged for information disclosure or, through further memory corruption primitives, local privilege escalation to root. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 17, 2026

Invalid pointer dereference in the Linux kernel netfilter NAT subsystem exposes local attackers with CAP_NET_ADMIN to kernel slab-out-of-bounds memory access via nf_nat_register_fn(). When nf_nat_init() fails during module initialization, the nat_net pointer is left in an invalid state; subsequent calls to nf_nat_register_fn() dereference it without validation, producing a KASAN-confirmed out-of-bounds read that can escalate to full kernel memory corruption. No public exploit code exists and EPSS at 0.21% (12th percentile) reflects negligible observed exploitation activity, though the local-privilege attack surface in containerized environments warrants timely patching.

RemediationAI

The primary remediation is to upgrade to a patched kernel version: 6.1.178 or later for the 6.1 LTS series, 6.6.145 or later for 6.6 LTS, 6.12.97 or later for 6.12 LTS, 6.18.40 or later for 6.18, or 7.1.5/7.2-rc1 or later for upstream. Debian users should apply vendor-supplied kernel updates as they become available via apt. Fix commits are published to the kernel stable tree at https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a73e7ac3f3b69e9581ec7bfd889ff3e9b8c773f7 and the other stable-branch equivalents listed in references. As a compensating control where immediate patching is not possible, restrict CAP_NET_ADMIN to trusted processes only - on container platforms, explicitly drop this capability from untrusted tenant workloads using seccomp profiles or pod security admission policies, which eliminates the primary attack surface without requiring a reboot. Note that dropping CAP_NET_ADMIN prevents containers from managing network interfaces and iptables rules, which may impact legitimate networking functionality in those workloads.

Affected VersionsENISA

Linux patch: 0
Linux cbc1dd5b659f5a2c3cba88b197b7443679bb35a0 <a73e7ac3f3b69e9581ec7bfd889ff3e9b8c773f7
Linux patch: 6.18.40
Linux patch: 6.6.145
Linux patch: 6.12.97
Linux 6.1
Linux cbc1dd5b659f5a2c3cba88b197b7443679bb35a0 <eb14aba91163c33d8c99f9d7c06690e08b56a250
Linux patch: 7.1.5
Linux patch: 6.1.178
Linux cbc1dd5b659f5a2c3cba88b197b7443679bb35a0 <069cfe3de2a5e16069485893cd04665ab769c1d8
Linux cbc1dd5b659f5a2c3cba88b197b7443679bb35a0 <359d8ff97362a4662356104540e4814bff9dad7c
Linux patch: 7.2-rc1
Linux cbc1dd5b659f5a2c3cba88b197b7443679bb35a0 <87f7a720de2545fdac29c85acb7163676feacdaf
Linux cbc1dd5b659f5a2c3cba88b197b7443679bb35a0 <e794f633021defcfa98e17d73b955cd07590831f

Affected Packages

euvd linux no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

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Technical ContextAI · show details

The vulnerability resides in the Linux kernel's netfilter framework (net/netfilter/nf_nat_core.c), specifically the interaction between the NAT module's init path and its hook registration function. CPE cpe:2.3:a:linux:linux:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* covers all affected stable kernel series. When nf_nat_init() encounters an error during initialization, it returns without fully populating the nat_net structure; nf_nat_register_fn() subsequently reads from the stale or never-initialized pointer at offset, producing the KASAN slab-out-of-bounds report for an 8-byte read. The trigger chain runs from userspace through a Netlink sendmsg syscall → nfnetlink_rcv → nfnetlink_rcv_batch → nf_tables_newchain → nf_tables_addchain → nf_tables_register_hook → nf_nat_register_fn. Although tagged 'Buffer Overflow' and lacking a formal CWE assignment, the root cause class is use-of-invalid-pointer resulting from an incomplete error-recovery path in the NAT init function, a classic resource-lifetime bug in kernel subsystem initialization code.

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Severity by source

Vendor (Linux) PRIMARY 7.8 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI 7.8 HIGH

Local vector and PR:L confirmed by CAP_NET_ADMIN requirement for nftables operations; full C/I/A impact consistent with kernel heap corruption primitives.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE 5.3 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
Red Hat 7.0 MEDIUM

Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).

CVSS VectorVendor: Linux

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

4
CVSS changed
Aug 17, 2026 - 06:22 NVD
7.8 (HIGH)
Patch available
Aug 15, 2026 - 07:20 EUVD
CVE Published
Aug 15, 2026 - 05:56 cve.org
HIGH 7.8
CVE Published
Aug 15, 2026 - 05:56 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: nf_nat: avoid invalid nat_net pointer use on failed nf_nat_init()

We ran into below KASAN splat, which is mostly uninteresting, beside for having nf_nat_register_fn() in the call chain as a cause for the offending access:

============== BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in nf_nat_register_fn+0x5f9/0x640 Read of size 8 at addr ffff890031e54c20 by task iptables/9510

CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 9510 Comm: iptables Not tainted 6.18.18-grsec-full-20260320181326 #1 PREEMPT(voluntary) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> […] dump_stack_lvl+0xee/0x160 ffff88004117eeb8 […] print_report+0x6e/0x640 ffff88004117eee0 […] ? __phys_addr+0x8e/0x140 ffff88004117eef0 […] ? kasan_addr_to_slab+0x51/0xe0 ffff88004117ef08 […] ? complete_report_info+0xec/0x1c0 ffff88004117ef20 […] ? nf_nat_register_fn+0x5f9/0x640 ffff88004117ef48 […] kasan_report+0xbc/0x140 ffff88004117ef50 […] ? nf_nat_register_fn+0x5f9/0x640 ffff88004117ef90 […] nf_nat_register_fn+0x5f9/0x640 ffff88004117eff8 […] ? nf_nat_icmp_reply_translation+0x6e0/0x6e0 ffff88004117f070 […] nf_tables_register_hook.part.0+0xa0/0x220 ffff88004117f080 […] nf_tables_addchain.constprop.0+0x1054/0x1fc0 ffff88004117f0b8 […] ? nft_chain_lookup.part.0+0x4ce/0xac0 ffff88004117f130 […] ? nf_tables_abort+0x3d80/0x3d80 ffff88004117f190 […] ? nf_tables_dumpreset_obj+0x100/0x100 ffff88004117f1c8 […] ? nft_table_lookup.part.0+0x255/0x300 ffff88004117f310 […] ? nf_tables_newchain+0x21a4/0x2fa0 ffff88004117f358 […] nf_tables_newchain+0x21a4/0x2fa0 ffff88004117f360 […] ? nf_tables_addchain.constprop.0+0x1fc0/0x1fc0 ffff88004117f458 […] ? nla_get_range_signed+0x4a0/0x4a0 ffff88004117f488 […] ? lock_acquire+0x16f/0x320 ffff88004117f490 […] ? find_held_lock+0x3b/0xe0 ffff88004117f4b0 […] ? __nla_parse+0x45/0x80 ffff88004117f500 […] nfnetlink_rcv_batch+0xbca/0x19a0 ffff88004117f550 […] ? nfnetlink_net_exit_batch+0x120/0x120 ffff88004117f618 […] ? __sanitizer_cov_trace_switch+0x63/0xe0 ffff88004117f720 […] ? gr_acl_handle_mmap+0x1c4/0x320 ffff88004117f7c0 […] ? nla_get_range_signed+0x4a0/0x4a0 ffff88004117f7e8 […] ? gr_is_capable+0x6f/0xe0 ffff88004117f830 […] ? __nla_parse+0x45/0x80 ffff88004117f860 […] ? skb_pull+0x103/0x1a0 ffff88004117f880 […] nfnetlink_rcv+0x3db/0x4a0 ffff88004117f8b0 […] ? nfnetlink_rcv_batch+0x19a0/0x19a0 ffff88004117f8d8 […] ? netlink_lookup+0xe2/0x240 ffff88004117f900 […] netlink_unicast+0x74b/0xb00 ffff88004117f930 […] ? netlink_attachskb+0xb20/0xb20 ffff88004117f980 […] ? __check_object_size+0x3e/0xaa0 ffff88004117f998 […] ? security_netlink_send+0x51/0x160 ffff88004117f9c8 […] netlink_sendmsg+0xa03/0x1200 ffff88004117f9f8 […] ? netlink_unicast+0xb00/0xb00 ffff88004117fa70 […] ? netlink_unicast+0xb00/0xb00 ffff88004117fac8 […] ? ____sys_sendmsg+0xe2a/0x1040 ffff88004117faf8 […] ____sys_sendmsg+0xe2a/0x1040 ffff88004117fb00 […] ? kernel_recvmsg+0x300/0x300 ffff88004117fb60 […] ? reacquire_held_locks+0xe9/0x260 ffff88004117fbc8 […] ___sys_sendmsg+0x138/0x200 ffff88004117fbf8 […] ? do_recvmmsg+0x7e0/0x7e0 ffff88004117fc30 […] ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare+0x101/0x1e0 ffff88004117fc50 […] ? lock_acquire+0x16f/0x320 ffff88004117fd20 […] ? lock_acquire+0x16f/0x320 ffff88004117fd58 […] ? find_held_lock+0x3b/0xe0 ffff88004117fd70 […] __sys_sendmsg+0x17a/0x260 ffff88004117fdc8 […] ? __sys_sendmsg_sock+0x80/0x80 ffff88004117fdf0 […] ? syscall_trace_enter+0x15e/0x2c0 ffff88004117fe98 […] do_syscall_64+0x7d/0x400 ffff88004117fec8 […] entry_SYSCALL_64_safe_stack+0x4a/0x60 ffff88004117fef8 </TASK> ==============

The out-of-bounds report, though, is a red herring as it is f ---truncated---

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

CVE-2026-72419 is a kernel memory vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) affecting Linux-based infrastructure and containerized systems that could enable system compromise if exploited. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, and observed threat activity remains minimal. A vendor patch is available and should be deployed through standard change management to eliminate this technical risk and preserve system availability and security isolation.

Business Impact: Medium
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 88% exploitable
Prevalence
Ubiquitous
Linux kernel underlies most servers, cloud, and embedded deployments globally
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium
EUVD NVD CVE.org EPSS Vendor

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact
Medium

Priority Score

39
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +39
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Buffer Overflow HIGH

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Same technique Buffer Overflow

View all
CVE-2017-7269 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2015-5119 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2015-3113 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2011-2462 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2020-0796 CRITICAL POC
10.0
CVE-2019-11043 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2009-0927 HIGH POC
8.8
CVE-2012-1889 HIGH POC
8.8

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 Not-Affected

References

Advisories & patches
ADVISORY https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72419 ADVISORY https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8887-1 ADVISORY https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8888-1 ADVISORY https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8889-1 REF https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/069cfe3de2a5e16069485893cd04665ab769c1d8 REF https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/359d8ff97362a4662356104540e4814bff9dad7c REF https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/87f7a720de2545fdac29c85acb7163676feacdaf REF https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a73e7ac3f3b69e9581ec7bfd889ff3e9b8c773f7 REF https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e794f633021defcfa98e17d73b955cd07590831f REF https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eb14aba91163c33d8c99f9d7c06690e08b56a250

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