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
Affected product
LI
Linux
Linux
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