CVE-2026-74621
HighCVSS 7.5Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk41th percentile - higher than 41% of all known CVEs
Summary
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's net/sched/act_ct module causes an sk_buff leak when header checks reject a packet. The function tcf_ct_handle_fragments() returns errors without freeing the skb, and the caller treats all non-zero returns as ownership transfer, leading to a memory leak. Reproduced on v7.2-rc6, each malformed packet leaks a 232-byte skbuff_head_cache object plus a 704-byte data buffer.
Risk Assessment
An attacker can send specially crafted packets to trigger the leak, causing unbounded kernel memory exhaustion and potentially leading to a denial of service (system crash).
Recommendation
Apply the kernel patch that fixes this issue (restoring TC_ACT_SHOT behavior). Update the kernel to a patched version or backport the fix.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
See all- CVE-2026-99215Unknown
In the Linux kernel power supply subsystem, a use-after-free vulnerability exists. If a power supply is unregistered while its external_power_changed() callback is still running, the driver may free data that the callback is still accessing, leading to a kernel crash (NULL pointer dereference).
- CVE-2026-99210Unknown
In the Linux kernel accel/rocket driver, rocket_probe() stores the return value of rocket_device_init() in the file-scoped rdev pointer before checking whether it is an error pointer. On failure rdev remains an ERR_PTR, and a later probe can skip initialization and dereference the error pointer when reading rdev->num_cores.
- CVE-2026-99209Unknown
In the Linux kernel drm/xe driver, xe_evict_flags() reads tbo->resource->mem_type, but a BO can reach eviction with no ttm.resource, e.g. an imported dma-buf whose resource was freed during teardown. This causes a NULL pointer dereference and a kernel fault.
- CVE-2026-99208Unknown
In the Linux kernel drm/xe/oa driver, ttm_bo_type_kernel BOs are not guaranteed to be zeroed on allocation and may contain data from previously freed pages. Since the OA buffer is mmap'able by userspace, this can expose stale kernel memory contents.
- CVE-2026-99207Unknown
In the Linux kernel's scsi: target subsystem, target_do_delayed_work() acquired delayed_cmd_lock with a plain spin_lock() without disabling interrupts, while all other acquisition sites use spin_lock_irqsave(). Since commands can now complete in interrupt context (complete_type=1 with direct_compl_supp), this can cause a deadlock when a completion arrives on the same CPU where the work item holds the lock.
- CVE-2026-99205Unknown
In the Linux kernel, a race exists in sched_change_end() with __sched_setscheduler() for queued but non-running tasks. When a task's scheduling class changes (e.g., from SCHED_OTHER to SCHED_RR), rq->next_class is not updated and the need-resched indicator is not set, causing the CPU to idle despite a runnable task being present.
- CVE-2026-99200Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the hisi_femac network driver (net: hisilicon) assigns netdev_ops only after connecting the PHY. With CONFIG_NET_SHAPER enabled, phy_attach_direct() reads uninitialized netdev_ops, causing a kernel panic from a NULL pointer dereference.
- CVE-2026-99199Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the hip04_eth network driver (net: hisilicon) calls of_phy_connect() before ndev->netdev_ops is assigned. With CONFIG_NET_SHAPER enabled, phy_attach_direct() reads uninitialized netdev_ops, causing a kernel panic from a NULL pointer dereference.
- CVE-2026-99198Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the owl_emac network driver (net: ethernet: actions) calls owl_emac_phy_init(), which connects the PHY, before netdev->netdev_ops is assigned. With CONFIG_NET_SHAPER enabled, phy_attach_direct() reads uninitialized netdev_ops, causing a kernel panic from a NULL pointer dereference.
- CVE-2026-99197Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the mv643xx_eth network driver connects the PHY before dev->netdev_ops is assigned. With CONFIG_NET_SHAPER enabled, phy_attach_direct() reads uninitialized netdev_ops, causing a kernel panic from a NULL pointer dereference.
Original NVD description (English source)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: act_ct: fix sk_buff leak when the header checks reject a packet tcf_ct_handle_fragments() runs its header sanity checks before handing anything to the defragmentation engine: if (family == NFPROTO_IPV4) err = tcf_ct_ipv4_is_fragment(skb, &frag); else err = tcf_ct_ipv6_is_fragment(skb, &frag); if (err || !frag) return err; tcf_ct_ipv4_is_fragment() returns -EINVAL or -ENOMEM; tcf_ct_ipv6_is_fragment() adds -EPROTO when ipv6_find_hdr() fails. None of them frees or queues the skb, so on that path the caller still owns it. tcf_ct_act() however funnels every non-zero return into the ownership-transfer exit: err = tcf_ct_handle_fragments(net, skb, family, p->zone, &defrag); if (err) goto out_frag; ... out_frag: if (err != -EINPROGRESS) tcf_action_inc_drop_qstats(&c->common); return TC_ACT_CONSUMED; TC_ACT_CONSUMED means the action took ownership of the skb, so no caller frees it - sch_handle_ingress(), sch_handle_egress() and tcf_qevent_handle() all deliberately skip the free for that verdict. The skb is therefore orphaned: one sk_buff plus its data buffer is leaked per malformed packet, unbounded. Note the drop counter is already incremented for these errors, so the statistics claim a drop that never happens. Three different ownership states reach out_frag: today - the skb may be queued by the defrag engine (-EINPROGRESS), already freed by nf_ct_handle_fragments(), or still owned by us. Tell the caller which of those it is, and free the packet ourselves in the last case, which restores the TC_ACT_SHOT behaviour that predated the Fixes: commit. Reproduced on v7.2-rc6 with a 54-byte frame carrying a 40-byte IPv6 header with nexthdr = 0 (hop-by-hop) and nothing after it, on a clsact ingress chain with "action ct". kmemleak reports one leaked 232-byte skbuff_head_cache object plus its 704-byte data buffer per packet; with this patch it reports none.
Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS

