Vulnerability in Linux
CVE-2026-74492
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: ipset: do not update comments from kernel-side hash adds mtype_resize() copies comment pointers with memcpy(), not the comment objects themselves. During the window after an entry has been copied but before the table swap and backlog replay, the old table is still published for packet-side updates while the replacement-table entry already holds the same ip_set_comment_rcu pointer. If xt_SET --add-set ... --exist hits that old entry in this window, mtype_add() calls ip_set_init_comment() even though packet-side adds carry no comment payload. That call frees the shared comment through the old entry, so the replacement-table entry now holds a stale pointer. When the queued add is replayed on the new table, mtype_add() calls ip_set_init_comment() again and strlen() dereferences the stale pointer. Fix this in mtype_add() by skipping ip_set_init_comment() when ext->target marks a packet-side add. Userspace adds still update comments, while packet-side adds can no longer free comment storage shared with a resize copy.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 8.4 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.002 (8.3th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 8th percentile — 8.3% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.001
Affected products
- Linux — versions 5.6, 7.2-rc6, 5dd9488ae41070b69d2f4acb580f77db5705f9ca
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-74492?
- CVE-2026-74492 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux. CVSS score: 8.4/10. Published 2026-08-15.
- How severe is CVE-2026-74492?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.4 out of 10.