What is CVE-2026-23272?

CVE-2026-23272 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 4.9.33 onward and patched in 6.6.141, 6.12.91, 6.18.17 and others. CVE-2026-23272 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-23272?

CVE-2026-23272 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-23272?

Yes, CVE-2026-23272 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.6.141, 6.12.91, 6.18.17 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.9.33 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-23272 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-23272 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-23272

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_tables: unconditionally bump set->nelems before insertion In case that the set is full, a new element gets published then removed without waiting for the RCU grace period, while RCU reader can be walking over it already. To address this issue, add the element transaction even if set is full, but toggle the set_full flag to report -ENFILE so the abort path safely unwinds the set to its previous state. As for element updates, decrement set->nelems to restore it. A simpler fix is to call synchronize_rcu() in the error path. However, with a large batch adding elements to already maxed-out set, this could cause noticeable slowdown of such batches.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-03-20

Last modified 2026-05-23

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.8

out of 10

High

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 4.9.33, 4.10 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.6.141, 6.12.91, 6.18.17, 6.19.7, 7.0 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 4.9.33 ≥ 4.10

Fixed in

✓ 6.6.141 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.91 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.17 6.18.x ✓ 6.19.7 6.19.x ✓ 7.0

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-23272 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6826131c7674329335ca25df2550163eb8a1fd0c
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/86bc4b1a0f672d47ac19f9022432cb6a2e01cb33
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ccb8c8f3c1127cf34d18c737309897c68046bf21
Patch

5 patch commits total View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-23272

Severity High

CVSS score 7.8 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-03-20

Modified 2026-05-23

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-23272?

CVE-2026-23272 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.9.33 onward and has been patched in 6.6.141, 6.12.91, 6.18.17 and others. CVE-2026-23272 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-23272?

CVE-2026-23272 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-23272?

Yes — CVE-2026-23272 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.6.141, 6.12.91, 6.18.17 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.9.33 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-23272 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2026-23272 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.