What is CVE-2026-63986?

CVE-2026-63986 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference flaw (CWE-763), affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.14 onward and patched in 6.18.35, 7.0.12 and 7.1. CVE-2026-63986 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-63986?

CVE-2026-63986 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-63986?

Yes, CVE-2026-63986 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.35, 7.0.12 and 7.1. If you are running Linux kernel 6.14 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-63986 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-63986 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference (CWE-763)?

The product attempts to return a memory resource to the system but calls the wrong release function. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/763.html

CVE-2026-63986

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ethtool: tsinfo: don't pass ERR_PTR to genlmsg_cancel on prepare failure The goto err label leads to: genlmsg_cancel(skb, ehdr); return ret; If ethnl_tsinfo_prepare_dump() failed, it has not started a genlmsg. There's nothing to cancel, and passing an error pointer to genlmsg_cancel() would cause a crash.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-07-19

Last modified 2026-10-08

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

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

Weakness type

CWE-763

CVE-2026-63986 is a Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference vulnerability

What is Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference?

The product attempts to return a memory resource to the system but calls the wrong release function. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.14 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.18.35, 7.0.12, 7.1 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.14

Fixed in

✓ 6.18.35 6.18.x ✓ 7.0.12 7.0.x ✓ 7.1

References

3 total

Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2008f9bb1ede9b688624a241228b8e54fc74f0f6

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c3fc9976f686f9a95baf87db9d387f218fd65394

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0d2c5ccd1de28368cebeef74d9c530a60eff9a5

Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-63986

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-07-19

Modified 2026-10-08

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-63986?

CVE-2026-63986 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference flaw (CWE-763) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.14 onward and has been patched in 6.18.35, 7.0.12 and 7.1. CVE-2026-63986 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-63986?

CVE-2026-63986 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-63986?

Yes. CVE-2026-63986 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.35, 7.0.12 and 7.1. If you are running Linux kernel 6.14 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-63986 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-63986 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.