Categories
CVE-2026-52986 critical CVSS 9.8

Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2026-52986)

Summary

Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2026-52986). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: nf_conntrack_sip: don't use simple_strtoul

Replace unsafe port parsing in epaddr_len(), ct_sip_parse_header_uri(),
and ct_sip_parse_request() with a new sip_parse_port() helper that
validates each digit against the buffer limit, eliminating the use of
simple_strtoul() which assumes NUL-terminated strings.

The previous code dereferenced pointers without bounds checks after
sip_parse_addr() and relied on simple_strtoul() on non-NUL-terminated
skb data. A port that reaches the buffer limit without a trailing
character is also rejected as malformed.

Also get rid of all simple_strtoul() usage in conntrack, prefer a
stricter version instead. There are intentional changes:

  • Bail out if number is > UINT_MAX and indicate a failure, same for
    too long sequences.
    While we do accept 05535 as port 5535, we will not accept e.g.
    'sip:10.0.0.1:005060'. While its syntactically valid under RFC 3261,
    we should restrict this to not waste cycles when presented with
    malformed packets with 64k '0' characters.

  • Force base 10 in ct_sip_parse_numerical_param(). This is used to fetch
    'expire=' and 'rports='; both are expected to use base-10.

  • In nf_nat_sip.c, only accept the parsed value if its within the 1k-64k
    range.

  • epaddr_len now returns 0 if the port is invalid, as it already does
    for invalid ip addresses. This is intentional. nf_conntrack_sip
    performs lots of guesswork to find the right…

Source: GitHub Security Advisories (Global) NVD GitHub Advisory

Auto-generated summary

Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.

A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-52986 has been found in Linux kernel.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 9.8/10.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Linux kernel CVE-2026-52986" on the vendor's site.

CVE-2026-52986 (Linux kernel) — CWE-476 / CVSS v3 9.8
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.

❓ What is the problem

A vulnerability (CWE-476) exists in Linux kernel.

📍 Affected scope

Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Linux kernel.

🔥 Severity

Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.8/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.

🔧 How to fix

Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.

🛡️ Workaround

Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.

🔍 Detection

Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Audit SBOM/dependencies to find affected services.

Response actions

Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order

  1. 1
    Identify exposure identify
    Audit SBOM/dependencies for affected components.

    資産台帳・SBOM・依存マニフェストで Linux kernel を使っているサービスとバージョンを洗い出す。

  2. 2
    Post-deployment verification verify
    Confirm patched version is live in production

    パッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。

Affected packages

Linux Kernel
[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"2.6.26"},{"fixed":"5.10.258"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"5.11.0"},{"fixed":"5.15.209"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"5.16.0"},{"fixed":"6.1.175"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.2.0"},{"fixed":"6.6.141"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.7.0"},{"fixed":"6.12.91"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.13.0"},{"fixed":"6.18.33"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.19.0"},{"fixed":"7.0.10"}]}]

Fix status by distribution

Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE

References

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