Unscored severity · published Oct 28, 2026
CVE-2026-99201
netlink: avoid hashing the network namespace pointer
New
–
CVSS
–
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
netlink: avoid hashing the network namespace pointer
The netlink rhashtable key includes a raw struct net pointer and a
user-controlled port ID. Both /proc/net/netlink and socket diagnostics
expose the table's bucket order. By binding and rebinding chosen
NETLINK_USERSOCK port IDs, an unprivileged reader can distinguish equal
buckets and recover the low bits of the Jenkins hash. Its 32-bit seed
and the limited set of kernel-image slides can then be searched offline
to recover the address of init_net.
Use the namespace's unique, non-address net_cookie in the comparison
key instead. It is assigned before the per-net initializers run and
remains unchanged for the namespace's lifetime. The lookup key and
object hash are still built by netlink_compare_arg_init(), keeping
lookup, insertion, removal and rehashing consistent while preserving
namespace separation. Neither public table walker needs to change.
Reading the socket's namespace cookie in netlink_compare() is safe
under RCU, including during namespace teardown. netlink_release()
removes the socket from the hash table and defers its final put with
call_rcu(). cleanup_net() runs the per-net exit methods and waits for
outstanding RCU callbacks with rcu_barrier() before freeing namespace
storage.
Unlike ns.ns_id, net_cookie is also available and initialized during
setup_net() in older stable kernels, making the change straightforward
to backport to v5.15 and later.
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
LI
Linux · Linux
c428ecd1a21f1457ca3beb4df71b8a079c410e41 before bdd55b8a8acbf6b4840ab420eb6a63774bf4593b; c428ecd1a21f1457ca3beb4df71b8a079c410e41 before 078deff25f8a849ecd1c3fe17b1e473b1cf44f28; c428ecd1a21f1457ca3beb4df71b8a079c410e41 before f88bb3606e4bd11ee035b682cddc2999e604609a; 4.1 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-99201
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-99201
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bdd55b8a8acbf6b4840ab420eb6a63774bf4593b
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/078deff25f8a849ecd1c3fe17b1e473b1cf44f28
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f88bb3606e4bd11ee035b682cddc2999e604609a
More from Linux
9.8
CVE-2025-39682
tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list
8.8
CVE-2026-53266
netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable
7.8
CVE-2026-53362
ipv6: account for fraggap on the paged allocation path
7.8
CVE-2026-46300
net: skbuff: preserve shared-frag marker during coalescing
7.8
CVE-2026-31431
crypto: algif_aead - Revert to operating out-of-place
