Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2026-74561

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nexthop: avoid unlocked f6i_list walk in nh_rt_cache_flush nh_rt_cache_flush() walks nh->f6i_list during an RTNL-serialized nexthop replace without holding nh->lock, racing the unlocked IPv6 route add/delete that mutate the list under nh->lock and free fib6_info entries (nh_rt_cache_flush() is inlined into rtm_new_nexthop()): BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in nh_rt_cache_flush (net/ipv4/nexthop.c:2243) Read of size 8 at addr ffff888012953e18 by task exploit/146 nh_rt_cache_flush (net/ipv4/nexthop.c:2243) replace_nexthop (net/ipv4/nexthop.c:2610) rtm_new_nexthop (net/ipv4/nexthop.c:3323) rtnetlink_rcv_msg (net/core/rtnetlink.c:7076) Unlike the other f6i_list walks, this one bumps each route's sernum via fib6_update_sernum_upto_root(), which needs tb6_lock; taking nh->lock around it would invert the established tb6_lock -> nh->lock order and deadlock. As the only purpose is to invalidate cached dsts, bump the IPv6 sernum for the whole netns with rt_genid_bump_ipv6() instead, mirroring the rt_cache_flush() already done for IPv4 just above.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (5.1th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 5th percentile — 5.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-74561: held from 0.001 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.001

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 7.2-rc6, 6.16, 7.2

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-74561?
CVE-2026-74561 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2026-08-15.
How severe is CVE-2026-74561?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.