CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-99201

Low risk· EPSS 5%
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.16%

5th percentile - higher than 5% of all known CVEs

Summary

In the Linux kernel, a vulnerability was fixed in the netlink subsystem where the rhashtable key included a raw struct net pointer and a user-controlled port ID. By binding and rebinding chosen NETLINK_USERSOCK port IDs, an unprivileged reader could distinguish equal buckets and recover the low bits of the Jenkins hash, then search offline to recover the address of init_net. The fix uses the namespace's unique, non-address net_cookie in the comparison key.

Risk Assessment

The vulnerability allows an unprivileged user to observe the netlink table's bucket order and partially recover the init_net address, potentially aiding bypass of kernel protections such as KASLR. This poses a risk of privilege escalation or further kernel attacks.

Recommendation

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix (the change is straightforward to backport to v5.15 and later). If updating is not possible, restrict unprivileged access to NETLINK_USERSOCK sockets and monitor for suspicious activity.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

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Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netlink: avoid hashing the network namespace pointer The netlink rhashtable key includes a raw struct net pointer and a user-controlled port ID. Both /proc/net/netlink and socket diagnostics expose the table's bucket order. By binding and rebinding chosen NETLINK_USERSOCK port IDs, an unprivileged reader can distinguish equal buckets and recover the low bits of the Jenkins hash. Its 32-bit seed and the limited set of kernel-image slides can then be searched offline to recover the address of init_net. Use the namespace's unique, non-address net_cookie in the comparison key instead. It is assigned before the per-net initializers run and remains unchanged for the namespace's lifetime. The lookup key and object hash are still built by netlink_compare_arg_init(), keeping lookup, insertion, removal and rehashing consistent while preserving namespace separation. Neither public table walker needs to change. Reading the socket's namespace cookie in netlink_compare() is safe under RCU, including during namespace teardown. netlink_release() removes the socket from the hash table and defers its final put with call_rcu(). cleanup_net() runs the per-net exit methods and waits for outstanding RCU callbacks with rcu_barrier() before freeing namespace storage. Unlike ns.ns_id, net_cookie is also available and initialized during setup_net() in older stable kernels, making the change straightforward to backport to v5.15 and later.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS