Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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.
Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).
CVSS VectorVendor: Linux
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Lifecycle Timeline
5DescriptionCVE.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---
AnalysisAI
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. …
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Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata
Vulnerability AssessmentAI
| Exploitation | 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. … Additional conditions and limiting factors are described in the full assessment. |
| Risk Assessment | 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. … Full risk analysis with EPSS, KEV, and SSVC signal comparison available after sign-in. |
| Exploit Scenario | Full exploit scenario with step-by-step reproduction available after sign-in. |
| Remediation | 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. … Detailed patch versions, workarounds, and compensating controls in full report. |
Recommended ActionAI
Within 24 hours: Query your configuration management database and patch management systems to identify all Linux systems and their current kernel versions; cross-reference against your Linux distribution's (Ubuntu, RHEL, Debian) published security advisory for CVE-2026-72419 to determine which systems are affected. …
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Same technique Buffer Overflow
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2026-59318
GHSA-mpg4-7mw3-ccvq