CVE-2026-45860

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_conncount: increase the connection clean up limit to 64 After the optimization to only perform one GC per jiffy, a new problem was introduced. If more than 8 new connections are tracked per jiffy the list won't be cleaned up fast enough possibly reaching the limit wrongly. In order to prevent this issue, only skip the GC if it was already triggered during the same jiffy and the increment is lower than the clean up limit. In addition, increase the clean up limit to 64 connections to avoid triggering GC too often and do more effective GCs. This has been tested using a HTTP server and several performance tools while having nft_connlimit/xt_connlimit or OVS limit configured. Output of slowhttptest + OVS limit at 52000 connections: slow HTTP test status on 340th second: initializing: 0 pending: 432 connected: 51998 error: 0 closed: 0 service available: YES

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2026-05-27
Last modified 2026-05-30
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.5

out of 10
High
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 5.10.248, 5.15.198, 5.19 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.10.252, 5.15.202, 6.1.165, 6.6.128, 6.12.75, 6.18.14, 6.19.4, 7.0 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 5.10.248 ≥ 5.15.198 ≥ 5.19
Fixed in
✓ 5.10.252 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.202 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.165 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.128 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.75 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.14 6.18.x ✓ 6.19.4 6.19.x ✓ 7.0

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-45860 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2026-45860?

    CVE-2026-45860 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.10.248 onward and has been patched in 5.10.252, 5.15.202, 6.1.165 and others. CVE-2026-45860 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-45860?

    CVE-2026-45860 has a CVSS score of 7.5 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-45860?

    Yes — CVE-2026-45860 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.252, 5.15.202, 6.1.165 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.10.248 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2026-45860 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2026-45860 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.