Critical severity · published Aug 15, 2026
CVE-2026-72251
netfilter: nf_nat_sip: reload possible stale data pointer
9.8
CVSS
0.7%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
netfilter: nf_nat_sip: reload possible stale data pointer
quoting sashiko:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[..] noticed a potential memory bug and header corruption involving the
SIP NAT helper.
In net/netfilter/nf_nat_sip.c:nf_nat_sip():
if (skb_ensure_writable(skb, skb->len)) {
nf_ct_helper_log(skb, ct, "cannot mangle packet");
return NF_DROP;
}
uh = (void *)skb->data + protoff;
uh->dest = ct_sip_info->forced_dport;
if (!nf_nat_mangle_udp_packet(skb, ct, ctinfo, protoff,
0, 0, NULL, 0)) {
If a cloned or fragmented SKB is reallocated by skb_ensure_writable(), the
old data buffer is freed. However, nf_nat_sip() fails to update *dptr to
point to the new buffer.
It also appears to use nf_nat_mangle_udp_packet() on what could be a TCP
packet, which would overwrite the sequence number with a checksum update.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
nf_conntrack_sip linerizes skbs, hence no fragmented skb can be seen.
But clones are possible, so rebuild dptr.
Disable nf_nat_mangle_udp_packet() branch for TCP streams.
It doesn't look like this can ever happen, else we should have received
bug reports about this, so just check the conntrack is UDP and drop
otherwise.
The calling conntrack_sip set ->forced_dport for SIP_HDR_VIA_UDP messages,
so I don't think this is ever expected to be true for a TCP stream.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.7% · higher than 53% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
LI
Linux · Linux
7266507d89991fa1e989283e4e032c6d9357fe26 before bded21a4bf9bf86a79148be735723a97ca9a7532; 7266507d89991fa1e989283e4e032c6d9357fe26 before dc11f26685aa850f237226f0f463647aea58ab7c; 7266507d89991fa1e989283e4e032c6d9357fe26 before e38143c9b477f2968024c47c647dd4456a40aff1; 7266507d89991fa1e989283e4e032c6d9357fe26 before 57e4e29644ec054d7021d296407e7ddd844afea2; 7266507d89991fa1e989283e4e032c6d9357fe26 before eae9c6ccb5af69c713a65f8ae219f5c1aa32cd17; 7266507d89991fa1e989283e4e032c6d9357fe26 before 2bcf2c5052fb5e73e255140ab43f056aef409c27; +3 more · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72251
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72251
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0e76e3e886cc9ee027337d5ad39cb96f57b7bdc7
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2bcf2c5052fb5e73e255140ab43f056aef409c27
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/57e4e29644ec054d7021d296407e7ddd844afea2
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/77e43bcb7ec177e293a5c3f1b91a2c5aebfb6c68
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bded21a4bf9bf86a79148be735723a97ca9a7532
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dc11f26685aa850f237226f0f463647aea58ab7c
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