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CVE-2026-74260
netfilter: nf_dup_netdev: add nf_dev_xmit_recursion*() helpers and use them
Published 2026-08-15 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem include/net. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-74260 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | not affected | 6.12.113-1 | Nothing to do. trixie never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
Update nft_dup and nft_fwd to use the nf_dev_xmit_recursion() helpers. This patch also disables BH when transmitting the skb to address a possible migration to different CPU leading to imbalanced decrementation of the recursion counters. This is modeled after Florian Westphal's dev_xmit_recursion*() API available since commit 97cdcf37b57e ("net: place xmit recursion in softnet data") according to its current state in the tree.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
include/net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.h
net/netfilter/nf_dup_netdev.c
net/netfilter/nft_fwd_netdev.c
- What this is
- NETFILTERMAINTAINERS section matched on include/net/netfilter/ · netfilter-devel@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- nf_dup_netdev
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_NETFILTER|CONFIG_NF_DUP_NETDEV' /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w nf_dup_netdevPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this as a loadable module. Every release below compiles it as a module on every flavour, so whether the code is in the running kernel depends on whether that module is loaded.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sidm
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
- Build switches
- CONFIG_NETFILTER, CONFIG_NF_DUP_NETDEV
- Reads as
- all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-08-15 (2 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 7.8 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- local (AV:L)source
- EPSS
- 0.17%, higher than 6.3% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- include/net
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.16 | 6.18.57 | 53fb46cf933d |
| 6.16 | 7.1.5 | edf234f71fb3 |
| 6.16 | 7.2 | 2354e975932d |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:LAttack vector, local
- The flaw is reached through nftables netdev fwd/dup evaluation on NF_NETDEV ingress/egress hooks installed via nfnetlink; kernel CNA guidance treats netfilter/nftables configuration and packet-hook paths as Local even when traffic ultimately arrives from the network.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- An attacker with CAP_NET_ADMIN can deterministically install netdev egress/ingress fwd or dup rules that loop (same device or mutual forwarding) and drive packets through them; concurrent traffic also lets the attacker influence CPU migration that desynchronizes the per-CPU recursion counter without uncontrollable races.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- Installing netdev nftables fwd/dup rules requires CAP_NET_ADMIN via nfnetlink (netlink_net_capable), but that capability is routinely obtainable in an unprivileged-created user+network namespace (unshare -Urn) and is commonly delegated to containers with NET_ADMIN.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- Exploitation needs only the attacker's own nftables/netlink setup and packet injection; no victim must mount filesystems, open files, click prompts, or perform any deliberate interactive action beyond ordinary traffic delivery.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- Impact is unbounded kernel-stack recursion and crash/panic within the same kernel security domain; it does not cross a VM, container, IOMMU, or other distinct security-authority boundary such as guest-to-host escape.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- Bypassing the nf_dup_skb_recursion limit allows unbounded nf_hook_egress/ingress re-entry that corrupts kernel stack frames before the guard page; such stack corruption can disclose adjacent kernel memory and is not a pure NULL-deref crash with no data exposure.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- Unbounded recursion overflows the kernel task stack and overwrites saved return addresses/control data on the stack, providing a standard path to arbitrary kernel writes and control-flow hijack rather than a bounded or crash-only integrity effect.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- When the per-CPU recursion counter is desynchronized by CPU migration without local_bh_disable(), fwd/dup netdev rules can recurse without bound through neigh_xmit/dev_queue_xmit and nf_hook_egress, exhausting the kernel stack and causing oops/panic.