High severity · published Sep 11, 2026
CVE-2026-89488
openvswitch: Fix CT limit teardown use-after-free
7.8
CVSS
0.1%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
openvswitch: Fix CT limit teardown use-after-free
Packet processing uses CT limit state under RCU, while netns teardown
frees that state under ovs_mutex. The CT limit pointer was neither removed
from readers nor protected by a grace period, allowing packet processing to
dereference the freed state.
An unprivileged user can trigger this bug from a user and network
namespace, causing a slab-use-after-free in ovs_ct_execute() when the
netns is torn down.
Publish the CT limit pointer through RCU, remove it before teardown, and
wait for readers before freeing its contents. Keep ovs_mutex around
individual CT limit updates, and use the RCU read-side lock while GET
traverses the RCU-protected limit lists.
Netns teardown detaches the RCU-protected CT limit state in the pernet
.pre_exit callback while holding ovs_mutex. The pernet core guarantees an
RCU grace period between the .pre_exit and .exit callbacks, so the .exit
callback completes the teardown without adding any extra synchronization.
The netlink command handlers do not need NULL checks because the userspace
netlink socket holds an active reference to its network namespace while a
request is processed. The per-netns exit path therefore cannot run
concurrently with SET, DEL, or GET for that socket's namespace.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.1% · higher than 2% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
LI
Linux · Linux
11efd5cb04a184eea4f57b68ea63dddd463158d1 before 239f26589a6926db28c436e14f28517581ef1385; 11efd5cb04a184eea4f57b68ea63dddd463158d1 before 3b9369881b403f4cdbb11fa998554382bdcc3d8c; 11efd5cb04a184eea4f57b68ea63dddd463158d1 before 3b41d907400cc1dd1da9555b81dca422b1f44433; 11efd5cb04a184eea4f57b68ea63dddd463158d1 before 680f20d5937fa4d1367c59fe83091b78041015f5; 11efd5cb04a184eea4f57b68ea63dddd463158d1 before bf4aaa7ea2579e24ed7de2e20578a875bebca011; 11efd5cb04a184eea4f57b68ea63dddd463158d1 before e15407c3a8a005324f633cd46cd8fb58042c1157; +3 more · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-89488
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-89488
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/239f26589a6926db28c436e14f28517581ef1385
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b41d907400cc1dd1da9555b81dca422b1f44433
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b9369881b403f4cdbb11fa998554382bdcc3d8c
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/403f96c32c9e24600093d7d0c61c17daeedca957
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/680f20d5937fa4d1367c59fe83091b78041015f5
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6a6d36fadb8537d9b79e72c9fa51885ec0c33e10
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