CVE-2026-99074: ipv4: stop PMTU walk when nexthop group shrinks

Q: Who can trigger this issue?

An attacker needs CAP_NET_ADMIN in the affected network namespace to replace a nexthop group while PMTU updates are reading it. This limits direct exploitation to privileged network-namespace users or environments that delegate that capability to containers.

Q: What condition causes the crash?

The race occurs when a nexthop-group replacement shrinks the group after the PMTU update path has accepted an index from the earlier, larger group. The subsequent lookup can return NULL, which is then dereferenced by update_or_create_fnhe().

Q: What is the impact if the race is triggered?

The supplied failure report shows a KASAN null-pointer dereference in update_or_create_fnhe(), resulting in an oops. The description does not establish impacts beyond this crash condition.

Q: What should be done if updates cannot be applied immediately?

Avoid allowing untrusted users or workloads to obtain CAP_NET_ADMIN in network namespaces, particularly where they can replace nexthop groups. The provided data identifies RTM_NEWNEXTHOP replacement as the required writer-side operation.

Published Oct 23, 2026

Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ipv4: stop PMTU walk when nexthop group shrinks

Commit 7d3f3b4367f3 ("net: ipv4: Cache pmtu for all packet paths if multipath enabled") made iprtupdatepmtu() update every path.

For nexthop objects, fibinfonumpath() and fibinfonhc() independently load nh->nhgrp. RCU protects each group's lifetime but does not make the loads observe the same group. If replacement shrinks the group after the loop accepts an index, fibinfonhc() returns NULL and updateorcreatefnhe() dereferences it.

A deterministic probe only widened the existing window between the real operations. On v7.2, an RTMNEWNEXTHOP replacement published a one-member group after the PMTU reader accepted index 1 from a two-member group, producing:

KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000000007] RIP: updateorcreatefnhe+0x45/0x15b0

Stop when the indexed path is absent. Groups are dense, so no later index exists in that snapshot. The same real-writer window completed 114,423 PMTU iterations without an oops with this check. A reproducer is available on request.

Replacement requires CAPNETADMIN in the network namespace. Where unprivileged user namespaces are permitted, a local user can obtain it in a new user and network namespace.

Affected Software

217 affected componentsFixes available

Linux Linux kernel

debian/linux*

debian/linux<6.12.113-1

6.12.113-1

debian/linux<7.2.11-1

7.2.11-1

linux/kernel<5.15.224

5.15.224

linux/kernel>=5.16.0<6.1.191

6.1.191

linux/kernel>=6.2.0<6.6.160

6.6.160

linux/kernel>=6.7.0<6.12.113

6.12.113

linux/kernel>=6.13.0<6.18.57

6.18.57

debian/linux<=6.1.176-1, <=6.1.190-1, <=6.12.107-1

6.12.115-27.2.12-17.2.15-1

ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.0*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-azure-edge*

ubuntu/linux-gcp*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-gke-4.15*

ubuntu/linux-gke-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-hwe*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*

ubuntu/linux-oem*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.0*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-gke*

ubuntu/linux-gke-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-ibm-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-intel-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.10*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.6*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-raspi2*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.8*

ubuntu/linux*

ubuntu/linux-allwinner-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-aws*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.8<6.8.0-1069.74~22.04.1

6.8.0-1069.74~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8<6.8.0-1073.82~22.04.1

6.8.0-1073.82~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.8<6.8.0-1071.78~22.04.1

6.8.0-1071.78~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-gcp*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.8<6.8.0-1073.81~22.04.1

6.8.0-1073.81~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-gke*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-ibm*

ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8<6.8.0-1069.70~22.04.1

6.8.0-1069.70~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-intel-iotg*

ubuntu/linux-kvm*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8<6.8.0-149.149.1~22.04.1

6.8.0-149.149.1~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-nvidia*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra-igx*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.17*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.0*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.1*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-oracle*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8<6.8.0-1067.71~22.04.1

6.8.0-1067.71~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-raspi*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8<6.8.0-149.149~22.04.2

6.8.0-149.149~22.04.2

ubuntu/linux-starfive-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-xilinx-zynqmp*

ubuntu/linux-bluefield*

ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8<6.8.1-1064.65~22.04.1

6.8.1-1064.65~22.04.1

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*

ubuntu/linux-fips*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*

ubuntu/linux<6.8.0-149.149

6.8.0-149.149

ubuntu/linux-aws<6.8.0-1069.74

6.8.0-1069.74

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-aws-7.0<7.0.0-1017.18~24.04.1

7.0.0-1017.18~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure<6.8.0-1073.82

6.8.0-1073.82

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-azure-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde<6.8.0-1071.78

6.8.0-1071.78

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-7.0<7.0.0-1019.19~24.04.1

7.0.0-1019.19~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia*

ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp<6.8.0-1073.81

6.8.0-1073.81

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-7.0<7.0.0-1017.19~24.04.1

7.0.0-1017.19~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-gke<6.8.0-1068.77

6.8.0-1068.77

ubuntu/linux-gkeop<6.8.0-1053.57

6.8.0-1053.57

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-ibm<6.8.0-1069.70

6.8.0-1069.70

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency<6.8.0-149.149.1

6.8.0-149.149.1

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia<6.8.0-1067.70

6.8.0-1067.70

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency<6.8.0-1067.70.1

6.8.0-1067.70.1

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-oracle<6.8.0-1067.71

6.8.0-1067.71

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-7.0<7.0.0-1016.18~24.04.1

7.0.0-1016.18~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-raspi<6.8.0-1068.72

6.8.0-1068.72

ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0<7.0.0-43.43.1~24.04.2

7.0.0-43.43.1~24.04.2

ubuntu/linux-vmware<6.8.0-1010.10

6.8.0-1010.10

ubuntu/linux-xilinx*

ubuntu/linux-bluefield<6.8.0-1036.41

6.8.0-1036.41

ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime<6.8.0-2056.58

6.8.0-2056.58

ubuntu/linux-realtime<6.8.1-1064.65

6.8.1-1064.65

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips<6.8.0-1069.74+fips1

6.8.0-1069.74+fips1

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips<6.8.0-1073.82+fips1

6.8.0-1073.82+fips1

ubuntu/linux-fips*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips<6.8.0-1073.81+fips1

6.8.0-1073.81+fips1

ubuntu/linux<7.3.0-10.10

7.3.0-10.10

ubuntu/linux-aws<7.3.0-1004.4

7.3.0-1004.4

ubuntu/linux-azure<7.3.0-1004.4

7.3.0-1004.4

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde<7.3.0-1004.5

7.3.0-1004.5

ubuntu/linux-gcp<7.3.0-1004.4

7.3.0-1004.4

ubuntu/linux-oracle<7.3.0-1004.4

7.3.0-1004.4

ubuntu/linux-raspi<7.3.0-1004.4

7.3.0-1004.4

ubuntu/linux-realtime<7.3.0-10.10.1

7.3.0-10.10.1

ubuntu/linux-riscv<7.3.0-10.10.1

7.3.0-10.10.1

ubuntu/linux<7.0.0-43.43

7.0.0-43.43

ubuntu/linux-aws<7.0.0-1017.18

7.0.0-1017.18

ubuntu/linux-azure<7.0.0-1020.21

7.0.0-1020.21

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde<7.0.0-1019.19

7.0.0-1019.19

ubuntu/linux-gcp<7.0.0-1017.19

7.0.0-1017.19

ubuntu/linux-gke<7.0.0-1010.11

7.0.0-1010.11

ubuntu/linux-ibm<7.0.0-1018.18

7.0.0-1018.18

ubuntu/linux-nvidia*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-bos*

ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0<7.0.0-1018.18

7.0.0-1018.18

ubuntu/linux-oracle<7.0.0-1016.18

7.0.0-1016.18

ubuntu/linux-raspi<7.0.0-1023.23

7.0.0-1023.23

ubuntu/linux-realtime<7.0.0-43.43.1

7.0.0-43.43.1

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-vmware*

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

Upgrade
Upgrade debian/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.12.113-1
Upgrade
Upgrade debian/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.2.11-1
Upgrade
Upgrade linux/Kernel to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 5.15.224
Upgrade
Upgrade linux/Kernel to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.1.191
Upgrade
Upgrade linux/Kernel to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.6.160
Upgrade
Upgrade linux/Kernel to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.12.113
Upgrade
Upgrade linux/Kernel to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.18.57
Upgrade
Upgrade debian/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.12.115-2Fixed in 7.2.12-1Fixed in 7.2.15-1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1069.74~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1073.82~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1071.78~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1073.81~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1069.70~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-149.149.1~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1067.71~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-149.149~22.04.2
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.1-1064.65~22.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-149.149
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1069.74
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.18~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1073.82
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1071.78
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1019.19~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1073.81
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.19~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gke to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1068.77
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gkeop to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1053.57
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1069.70
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-lowlatency to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-149.149.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1067.70
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1067.70.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1067.71
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.18~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1068.72
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-43.43.1~24.04.2
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-vmware to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1010.10
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-bluefield to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1036.41
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-2056.58
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.1-1064.65
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1069.74+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1073.82+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 6.8.0-1073.81+fips1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.3.0-10.10
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.3.0-1004.4
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.3.0-1004.4
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.3.0-1004.5
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.3.0-1004.4
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.3.0-1004.4
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.3.0-1004.4
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.3.0-10.10.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.3.0-10.10.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-43.43
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.18
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1020.21
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1019.19
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.19
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gke to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1010.11
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1018.18
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1018.18
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.18
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1023.23
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-43.43.1

Event History

Oct 23, 2026

CVE Published

via MITRE·12:23 PM

Data Sourced

via MITRE·12:23 PM

Description

Data Sourced

via OSV·12:23 PM

DescriptionAffected Software

Data Sourced

via NVD·01:17 PM

Description

Nov 12, 2026

Data Sourced

via OSV·05:55 PM

Severity

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can trigger this issue?

An attacker needs CAP_NET_ADMIN in the affected network namespace to replace a nexthop group while PMTU updates are reading it. This limits direct exploitation to privileged network-namespace users or environments that delegate that capability to containers.

What condition causes the crash?

The race occurs when a nexthop-group replacement shrinks the group after the PMTU update path has accepted an index from the earlier, larger group. The subsequent lookup can return NULL, which is then dereferenced by update_or_create_fnhe().

What is the impact if the race is triggered?

The supplied failure report shows a KASAN null-pointer dereference in update_or_create_fnhe(), resulting in an oops. The description does not establish impacts beyond this crash condition.

What should be done if updates cannot be applied immediately?

Avoid allowing untrusted users or workloads to obtain CAP_NET_ADMIN in network namespaces, particularly where they can replace nexthop groups. The provided data identifies RTM_NEWNEXTHOP replacement as the required writer-side operation.

CVE-2026-99074: ipv4: stop PMTU walk when nexthop group shrinks

Affected Software

Remediation

Event History

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can trigger this issue?

What condition causes the crash?

What is the impact if the race is triggered?

What should be done if updates cannot be applied immediately?

Company

Resources

Contact