What is CVE-2026-74561?

CVE-2026-74561 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 8.8 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.16 onward and patched in 7.1.8 and 7.2. CVE-2026-74561 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-74561?

CVE-2026-74561 has a CVSS score of 8.8 out of 10, rated High severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-74561?

Yes, CVE-2026-74561 has been patched. Fixed versions include 7.1.8 and 7.2. If you are running Linux kernel 6.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-74561 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-74561 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-74561

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nexthop: avoid unlocked f6i_list walk in nh_rt_cache_flush nh_rt_cache_flush() walks nh->f6i_list during an RTNL-serialized nexthop replace without holding nh->lock, racing the unlocked IPv6 route add/delete that mutate the list under nh->lock and free fib6_info entries (nh_rt_cache_flush() is inlined into rtm_new_nexthop()): BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in nh_rt_cache_flush (net/ipv4/nexthop.c:2243) Read of size 8 at addr ffff888012953e18 by task exploit/146 nh_rt_cache_flush (net/ipv4/nexthop.c:2243) replace_nexthop (net/ipv4/nexthop.c:2610) rtm_new_nexthop (net/ipv4/nexthop.c:3323) rtnetlink_rcv_msg (net/core/rtnetlink.c:7076) Unlike the other f6i_list walks, this one bumps each route's sernum via fib6_update_sernum_upto_root(), which needs tb6_lock; taking nh->lock around it would invert the established tb6_lock -> nh->lock order and deadlock. As the only purpose is to invalidate cached dsts, bump the IPv6 sernum for the whole netns with rt_genid_bump_ipv6() instead, mirroring the rt_cache_flush() already done for IPv4 just above.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-08-15

Last modified 2026-08-17

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

8.8

out of 10

High

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Vector string

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

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.16 and later are affected. Fixed in 7.1.8, 7.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.16

Fixed in

✓ 7.1.8 7.1.x ✓ 7.2

References

2 total

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-74561

Severity High

CVSS score 8.8 / 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-2026-74561?

CVE-2026-74561 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 8.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.16 onward and has been patched in 7.1.8 and 7.2. CVE-2026-74561 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-74561?

CVE-2026-74561 has a CVSS score of 8.8 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:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-74561?

Yes. CVE-2026-74561 has been patched. Fixed versions include 7.1.8 and 7.2. If you are running Linux kernel 6.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-74561 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-74561 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.