CriticalCVE-2026-72130

Linux Kernel: Out-of-Bounds Write (CVE-2026-72130)

Published 15.08.2026Last modified 21.10.2026Sources: Ubuntu, Debian LTS, SUSE, Red Hat, CVE.org, BSI

What is affected, what to do

Update Linux Kernel to version 6.6.160, Linux Kernel to version 6.12.101, Linux Kernel to version 6.18.40.

Affected: Linux Kernel lt 6.0..6.6.160
Linux Kernel lt 6.7..6.12.101
Linux Kernel lt 6.13..6.18.40
Linux Kernel lt 6.19..7.1.5
Fixed in: Linux Kernel 6.6.160
Linux Kernel 6.12.101
Linux Kernel 6.18.40
Linux Kernel 7.1.5
Linux Kernel 7.2

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Metrics

9.8

Priority

XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v3

9.8

CVSS v3

Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.

Source: Ubuntu, Debian LTS, SUSE, Red Hat, CVE.org, BSI

0.8 %

EPSS score

Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 54.7

Show all metrics

Severity: Critical
Priority (0–325) The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first? Read in glossary: 96.31 Methodology
Exploit maturity An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack. Read in glossary: no public PoC known
XIEM Effective CVSS XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command. Read in glossary: 9.8 Methodology
CVSS v3 CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions. Read in glossary: 9.8
EPSS score The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“. Read in glossary: 0.8 %; Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking. Read in glossary: 54.7; High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
KEV status The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching. Read in glossary: —
Published: 15.08.2026

Detection rules

No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

Classification under NIS2 and CRA

Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

NIS2 NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management. Read in glossary: High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
CRA The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates. Read in glossary: From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
ISO/IEC 27001 ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security. Read in glossary: Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

Description

A flaw was found in the `nvmet-auth` component of the Linux kernel. A remote attacker, by sending a specially crafted `AUTH_RECEIVE` buffer to an NVMe-oF (NVM Express over Fabrics) target with in-band authentication enabled, can trigger a heap out-of-bounds write. This vulnerability arises because the system incorrectly processes the provided buffer length, leading to memory corruption. This can result in a denial of service or other unpredictable system behavior.

Source: Ubuntu Security Notices, Debian LTS Advisories, suse_csaf, redhat_csaf, NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF

Affected products

The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

Affected products
		Affected versions	Fixed in
Linux	Linux	`6.7 – < 6.12.101` `6.19 – < 7.1.5` `—` `6.13 – < 6.18.40` `6.0 – < 6.6.160`	`6.12.101` `7.1.5` `7.2` `6.18.40` `6.6.160`

Vendors and products

Affected operating systems

Affected operating systems

Linux	ubuntu	linux	`resolute`
Linux	debian	linux-6.12	`bookworm`
Linux	ubuntu	linux-aws	`resolute`
Linux	ubuntu	linux-aws-7.0	`noble`
Linux	ubuntu	linux-hwe-7.0	`noble`
Linux	ubuntu	linux-ibm	`resolute`
Linux	ubuntu	linux-oracle	`resolute`
Linux	ubuntu	linux-raspi	`resolute`
Linux	ubuntu	linux-realtime	`resolute`

References & sources

git.kernel.orgstable/c/80bf7b7f676e3987bbe06af3c359bd56ac91a5a9
git.kernel.orgstable/c/2eaa3ad450141cfcf187bb43cb8335eb336b5f87
git.kernel.orgstable/c/bc111698b46e43eddd8664cceaa621cd559e99a0
git.kernel.orgstable/c/779575bc35c687697ba69e904f2cd22e60112534
git.kernel.orgstable/c/584d7d14d9b40b080b1195cec83de86ade63343e

Changes to this CVE

Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

21.10.2026Record modifiedLinux

New references:

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/584d7d14d9b40b080b1195cec83de86ade63343e

Show 2 original changes

Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type	Action	Before	After
Affected versions (publisher)	added	—	Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/72xxx/CVE-2026-72130.json">CVE-2026-72130</a>
Reference	added	—	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/584d7d14d9b40b080b1195cec83de86ade63343e

Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

16.10.2026Record modifiedLinux

New references:

Show 8 original changes

Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type	Action	Before	After
Reference	added	—	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2eaa3ad450141cfcf187bb43cb8335eb336b5f87
Reference	added	—	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/779575bc35c687697ba69e904f2cd22e60112534
Reference	added	—	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/80bf7b7f676e3987bbe06af3c359bd56ac91a5a9
Reference	added	—	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bc111698b46e43eddd8664cceaa621cd559e99a0
Reference	removed	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2eaa3ad450141cfcf187bb43cb8335eb336b5f87	—
Reference	removed	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/779575bc35c687697ba69e904f2cd22e60112534	—
Reference	removed	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/80bf7b7f676e3987bbe06af3c359bd56ac91a5a9	—
Reference	removed	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bc111698b46e43eddd8664cceaa621cd559e99a0	—

Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

16.10.2026Record modifiedCISA ADP

CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: yes

Show the original change

Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type	Action	Before	After
SSVC assessment	added	—	{"id":"CVE-2026-72130","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"yes"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-10-16T18:42:34.388225Z"}

Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

17.08.2026Record modifiedLinux
CVSS V3.1: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Show 2 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type Action Before After
CVSS added
—
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected versions (publisher) changed
Linux, Linux
Linux, Linux
Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type	Action	Before	After
CVSS	added	—	AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected versions (publisher)	changed	Linux, Linux	Linux, Linux

15.08.2026ReceivedLinux

Description added or changed

New references:

Show 6 original changes

Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type	Action	Before	After
Affected versions (publisher)	added	—	Linux, Linux
Description	added	—	In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvmet-auth: reject short AUTH_RECEIVE buffers nvmet_execute_auth_receive() trusts the AUTH_RECEIVE allocation length after checking only that it is nonzero and matches the transfer length. In the SUCCESS1 and FAILURE1/default states, that lets a remote NVMe-oF initiator reach the fixed-size DH-HMAC-CHAP response builders with a kmalloc() buffer shorter than the response, so nvmet_auth_success1() and nvmet_auth_failure1() write past the allocation; both only WARN_ON the short length and then format the message anyway. Impact: A remote NVMe-oF initiator with access to an auth-enabled target can trigger a 16-byte heap out-of-bounds write via a one-byte AUTH_RECEIVE allocation length. Compute the minimum response length for the current DH-HMAC-CHAP step in nvmet_auth_receive_data_len() and report a zero data length when the host-supplied allocation length is shorter, so the existing zero-length check in nvmet_execute_auth_receive() rejects the command before any builder runs. The SUCCESS1 minimum is sizeof(struct nvmf_auth_dhchap_success1_data) plus the HMAC hash length, because the response hash is written into the rval[] flexible-array tail, so the minimum is state dependent rather than a flat sizeof. CHALLENGE keeps its existing variable-length guard in nvmet_auth_challenge(). This is reachable only when in-band DH-HMAC-CHAP authentication is configured on the target.
Reference	added	—	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2eaa3ad450141cfcf187bb43cb8335eb336b5f87
Reference	added	—	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/779575bc35c687697ba69e904f2cd22e60112534
Reference	added	—	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/80bf7b7f676e3987bbe06af3c359bd56ac91a5a9
Reference	added	—	https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bc111698b46e43eddd8664cceaa621cd559e99a0

Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2026-72130"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2026-72130.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2026-72130 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>