HighCVE-2026-46319

    Linux Kernel: Race Condition (CVE-2026-46319)

    Published Last modified Sources: Ubuntu, Debian LTS, SUSE, Red Hat, Debian, BSI, CVE.org, Msrc Update Guide

    What is affected, what to do

    A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. A race condition in the `act_ct` module, specifically during the flow table lookup, can lead to a Use-After-Free (UAF) vulnerability.

    Update Linux Kernel to version 5.10.258, Linux Kernel to version 5.15.209, Linux Kernel to version 6.1.175.

    Affected
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.7..5.10.258
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.11..5.15.209
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.16..6.1.175
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.2..6.6.141
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.7..6.12.91
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.13..6.18.33
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.19..7.0.10
    Fixed in
    • Linux Kernel 5.10.258
    • Linux Kernel 5.15.209
    • Linux Kernel 6.1.175
    • Linux Kernel 6.6.141
    • Linux Kernel 6.12.91
    • Linux Kernel 6.18.33
    • Linux Kernel 7.0.10
    • Linux Kernel 7.1

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    7.8

    Priority

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

    Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v3

    7.8

    CVSS v3

    Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

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

    0.1 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 1.1

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    High
    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
    57.72 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
    7.8 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
    7.8
    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
    0.1 %
    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
    1.1
    Low — this CVE sits in the lower 10% of all CVEs scored today.
    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

    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 Linux kernel. A race condition in the `act_ct` module, specifically during the flow table lookup, can lead to a Use-After-Free (UAF) vulnerability. This occurs because a critical lock is released prematurely, allowing a memory object to be freed while still in use. An attacker could potentially exploit this to achieve privilege escalation.

    Source: Ubuntu Security Notices, Debian LTS Advisories, suse_csaf, redhat_csaf, Debian Security Advisories, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF, cvelistv5, NVD (NIST), Microsoft Security Update Guide, CVE.org (MITRE)

    Affected products

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

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    LinuxLinux
    • 5.16 – < 6.1.175
    • 5.7 – < 5.10.258
    • 5.11 – < 5.15.209
    • 6.7 – < 6.12.91
    • —
    • 6.13 – < 6.18.33
    • 6.2 – < 6.6.141
    • 6.19 – < 7.0.10
    • 6.1.175
    • 5.10.258
    • 5.15.209
    • 6.12.91
    • 7.1
    • 6.18.33
    • 6.6.141
    • 7.0.10

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebianlinuxbookworm
    Linuxdebianlinuxbullseye
    Linuxdebianlinuxtrixie
    Linuxdebianlinux-6.1bullseye
    Linuxlinuxlinux_kernel—

    References & sources

    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).

    1. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      Weakness type: CWE-362

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Weakness type (CWE)added
      —
      CWE-362

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

    2. Record modifiedLinux

      Show 24 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/17dfb67cb399b660105d9a8c6100851c0d0cdc70
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3e20e1b3058e0b94638e7b931c138e840e266724
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4c727c6967a41b37efe0f26332ca9ec5b74785a3
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/67c9ecc9f2575273ed1323e312881fc98ac83d6d
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2e0c045c87aa252eb61412e67dd91f2c2b19f81
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ece578ca61e572df96cfc80456357ebfae0b4b9e
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f23424a0ddadb494d4bd57056a7ca703312d3a7b
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f462dca0c8415bf0058d0ffa476354c4476d0f09
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/17dfb67cb399b660105d9a8c6100851c0d0cdc70
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3e20e1b3058e0b94638e7b931c138e840e266724
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4c727c6967a41b37efe0f26332ca9ec5b74785a3
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/67c9ecc9f2575273ed1323e312881fc98ac83d6d
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2e0c045c87aa252eb61412e67dd91f2c2b19f81
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ece578ca61e572df96cfc80456357ebfae0b4b9e
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f23424a0ddadb494d4bd57056a7ca703312d3a7b
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f462dca0c8415bf0058d0ffa476354c4476d0f09
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/17dfb67cb399b660105d9a8c6100851c0d0cdc70 Types: Patch
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3e20e1b3058e0b94638e7b931c138e840e266724 Types: Patch
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4c727c6967a41b37efe0f26332ca9ec5b74785a3 Types: Patch
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/67c9ecc9f2575273ed1323e312881fc98ac83d6d Types: Patch
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2e0c045c87aa252eb61412e67dd91f2c2b19f81 Types: Patch
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ece578ca61e572df96cfc80456357ebfae0b4b9e Types: Patch
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f23424a0ddadb494d4bd57056a7ca703312d3a7b Types: Patch
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f462dca0c8415bf0058d0ffa476354c4476d0f09 Types: Patch
      —

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

    3. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: no

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      SSVC assessmentadded
      —
      {"id":"CVE-2026-46319","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-10-16T15:21:58.359342Z"}

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

    One NVD translation into another language is hidden.

    Linked advisories

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