CVE-2026-23351

HIGHCVSS 7.8/10EPSS 0.12%

Last modified

CVE-2026-23351 is a high-severity vulnerability rated 7.8/10 on the CVSS scale. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nft_set_pipapo: split gc into unlink and reclaim phase Yiming Qian reports Use-after-free in the pipapo set type: Under a large number of expired elements, commit-time GC can run for a very long time in a non-preemptible context, triggering soft lockup warnings and RCU stall reports (local denial of service). We must split GC in an unlink and a reclaim phase. We cannot queue elements for freeing until pointers have been swapped. Expired elements are still exposed to both the packet path and userspace dumpers via the live copy of the data structure. call_rcu() does not protect us: dump operations or element lookups starting after call_rcu has fired can still observe the free'd element, unless the commit phase has made enough progress to swap the clone and live pointers before any new reader has picked up the old version. This a similar approach as done recently for the rbtree backend in commit 35f83a75529a ("netfilter: nft_set_rbtree: don't gc elements on insert").. EPSS estimates a 0.12% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nft_set_pipapo: split gc into unlink and reclaim phase Yiming Qian reports Use-after-free in the pipapo set type: Under a large number of expired elements, commit-time GC can run for a very long time in a non-preemptible context, triggering soft lockup warnings and RCU stall reports (local denial of service). We must split GC in an unlink and a reclaim phase. We cannot queue elements for freeing until pointers have been swapped. Expired elements are still exposed to both the packet path and userspace dumpers via the live copy of the data structure. call_rcu() does not protect us: dump operations or element lookups starting after call_rcu has fired can still observe the free'd element, unless the commit phase has made enough progress to swap the clone and live pointers before any new reader has picked up the old version. This a similar approach as done recently for the rbtree backend in commit 35f83a75529a ("netfilter: nft_set_rbtree: don't gc elements on insert").

Metrics

CVSS 3.1
7.8/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Probability
0.12%

2.1th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

VendorProductVersionsUpdate
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.6.1, < 5.10.253
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.11, < 5.15.203
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.16, < 6.1.167
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.2, < 6.6.130
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.7, < 6.12.77
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.13, < 6.18.17
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.19, < 6.19.7
LinuxLinux Kernel5.6
LinuxLinux Kernel7.0Rc1

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-23351?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nft_set_pipapo: split gc into unlink and reclaim phase Yiming Qian reports Use-after-free in the pipapo set type: Under a large number of expired elements, commit-time GC can run for a very long time in a non-preemptible context, triggering soft lockup warnings and RCU stall reports (local denial of service). We must split GC in an unlink and a reclaim phase. We cannot queue elements for freeing until pointers have been swapped. Expired elements are still exposed to both the packet path and userspace dumpers via the live copy of the data structure. call_rcu() does not protect us: dump operations or element lookups starting after call_rcu has fired can still observe the free'd element, unless the commit phase has made enough progress to swap the clone and live pointers before any new reader has picked up the old version. This a similar approach as done recently for the rbtree backend in commit 35f83a75529a ("netfilter: nft_set_rbtree: don't gc elements on insert").
How severe is CVE-2026-23351?
CVE-2026-23351 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10 (HIGH severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.12% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2026-23351?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

Are you affected by CVE-2026-23351?

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Source: NVD / NIST