What is CVE-2026-72296?

CVE-2026-72296 is a Critical severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.1 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 4.6 onward and patched in 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178 and others. CVE-2026-72296 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72296?

CVE-2026-72296 has a CVSS score of 9.1 out of 10, rated Critical severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72296?

Yes, CVE-2026-72296 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.6 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-72296 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-72296 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-72296

Critical

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ife: require ETH_HLEN to be pullable in ife_decode() ife decode may return after making only the outer IFE header and metadata pullable. The caller then passes the decapsulated packet to eth_type_trans(), which expects the inner Ethernet header to be accessible from the linear data area. With a malformed IFE frame, the inner Ethernet header may still be shorter than ETH_HLEN in the linear area, which can lead to a crash in the original code. Fix this by extending the pull check in ife_decode() so that the inner Ethernet header is also guaranteed to be pullable before returning.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-08-15

Last modified 2026-08-17

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

9.1

out of 10

Critical

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

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

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 4.6 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 4.6

Fixed in

✓ 5.10.261 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.212 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.178 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.145 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.97 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.40 6.18.x ✓ 7.1.5 7.1.x ✓ 7.2

References

8 total

Showing 5 of 8 references View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-72296

Severity Critical

CVSS score 9.1 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-08-15

Modified 2026-08-17

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-72296?

CVE-2026-72296 is a Critical severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.1 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.6 onward and has been patched in 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178 and others. CVE-2026-72296 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72296?

CVE-2026-72296 has a CVSS score of 9.1 out of 10, rated Critical severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72296?

Yes. CVE-2026-72296 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.6 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-72296 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-72296 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.