CVE-2026-72137

{"dataType": "CVE_RECORD", "dataVersion": "5.2", "cveMetadata": {"cveId": "CVE-2026-72137", "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "state": "PUBLISHED", "assignerShortName": "Linux", "dateReserved": "2026-08-09T03:40:39.908Z", "datePublished": "2026-08-15T05:53:11.812Z", "dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:40:47.767Z"}, "containers": {"cna": {"providerMetadata": {"orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "shortName": "Linux", "dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:40:47.767Z"}, "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nxfrm: nat_keepalive: avoid double free on send error\n\nnat_keepalive_send() frees the keepalive skb whenever the IPv4 or IPv6\nsend helper reports an error.\n\nThat cleanup is only correct before the skb is handed to the output\npath. Once ip_build_and_send_pkt() or ip6_xmit() takes ownership, the\nnetworking stack may already have consumed the skb before returning an\nerror, so freeing it again is unsafe.\n\nHandle the pre-handoff failure cases inside nat_keepalive_send_ipv4()\nand nat_keepalive_send_ipv6(), where the caller still owns the skb, and\nkeep nat_keepalive_send() responsible only for family dispatch and the\nunsupported-family cleanup path."}], "metrics": [{"cvssV3_1": {"version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H", "baseScore": 9.8, "baseSeverity": "CRITICAL"}, "scenarios": [{"lang": "en", "value": "AV:N - On internet-facing IPsec VPN gateways using kernel NAT keepalive, a remote attacker can induce post-handoff outbound send failures (e.g., ENOMEM from network-driven memory pressure) when periodic keepalives are transmitted, reaching the vulnerable double-free path.\nAC:L - After an outbound ESP-in-UDP SA has NAT keepalive configured, an attacker can reliably force send errors where the stack already consumed the skb (ip6_xmit EMSGSIZE, ip_finish_output2 neighbour/ENOMEM paths) without uncontrollable races or memory layout dependencies.\nPR:N - Remote exploitation requires no privileges on the victim; it only needs a typical IPsec NAT-T deployment where userspace already set XFRMA_NAT_KEEPALIVE_INTERVAL. Local exploitation via user namespaces needs only CAP_NET_ADMIN (PR:L), not root in the init namespace.\nUI:N - No victim or administrator interaction is needed during exploitation; NAT keepalives are sent automatically by the kernel delayed work queue on the configured interval once the XFRM SA exists.\nS:U - Impact is kernel heap corruption and privilege escalation within the same security authority; this is not a VM escape, container breakout, or IOMMU/DMA boundary bypass.\nC:H - The skb double-free corrupts the slab allocator and yields use-after-free primitives that can be leveraged for arbitrary kernel memory disclosure, not merely a bounded leak or crash-only NULL dereference.\nI:H - Double-free heap corruption enables attacker-controlled reallocation of freed sk_buff objects, supporting arbitrary kernel memory writes, control-flow hijacking, and local privilege escalation.\nA:H - The double-free reliably causes slab corruption, kernel oops, or panic during keepalive send-error cleanup, providing immediate and repeatable denial of service on affected systems."}]}], "affected": [{"product": "Linux", "vendor": "Linux", "defaultStatus": "unaffected", "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "programFiles": ["net/xfrm/xfrm_nat_keepalive.c"], "versions": [{"version": "f531d13bdfe3f4f084aaa8acae2cb0f02295f5ae", "lessThan": "d0a4dc7efa825bce60a8da8f7d43c864a159abde", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git"}, {"version": "f531d13bdfe3f4f084aaa8acae2cb0f02295f5ae", "lessThan": "5b0c4c916f202b8fd13d12afb6af62b385622f81", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git"}, {"version": "f531d13bdfe3f4f084aaa8acae2cb0f02295f5ae", "lessThan": "a8a7e6a9ff8a4c1f067694ddbd44be67fdf36693", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git"}, {"version": "f531d13bdfe3f4f084aaa8acae2cb0f02295f5ae", "lessThan": "226f4a490d1a938fc838d8f8c46a4eca864c0d78", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git"}]}, {"product": "Linux", "vendor": "Linux", "defaultStatus": "affected", "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "programFiles": ["net/xfrm/xfrm_nat_keepalive.c"], "versions": [{"version": "6.11", "status": "affected"}, {"version": "0", "lessThan": "6.11", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver"}, {"version": "6.12.101", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver"}, {"version": "6.18.40", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver"}, {"version": "7.1.5", "lessThanOrEqual": "7.1.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver"}, {"version": "7.2", "lessThanOrEqual": "*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"}]}], "cpeApplicability": [{"nodes": [{"operator": "OR", "negate": false, "cpeMatch": [{"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.11", "versionEndExcluding": "6.12.101"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.11", "versionEndExcluding": "6.18.40"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.11", "versionEndExcluding": "7.1.5"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.11", "versionEndExcluding": "7.2"}]}]}], "references": [{"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0a4dc7efa825bce60a8da8f7d43c864a159abde"}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5b0c4c916f202b8fd13d12afb6af62b385622f81"}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a8a7e6a9ff8a4c1f067694ddbd44be67fdf36693"}, {"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/226f4a490d1a938fc838d8f8c46a4eca864c0d78"}], "title": "xfrm: nat_keepalive: avoid double free on send error", "x_generator": {"engine": "bippy-1.2.0"}}}}

{}

{"affected": [{"affectedData": [{"defaultStatus": "unaffected", "product": "Linux", "programFiles": ["net/xfrm/xfrm_nat_keepalive.c"], "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "vendor": "Linux", "versions": [{"lessThan": "d0a4dc7efa825bce60a8da8f7d43c864a159abde", "status": "affected", "version": "f531d13bdfe3f4f084aaa8acae2cb0f02295f5ae", "versionType": "git"}, {"lessThan": "5b0c4c916f202b8fd13d12afb6af62b385622f81", "status": "affected", "version": "f531d13bdfe3f4f084aaa8acae2cb0f02295f5ae", "versionType": "git"}, {"lessThan": "a8a7e6a9ff8a4c1f067694ddbd44be67fdf36693", "status": "affected", "version": "f531d13bdfe3f4f084aaa8acae2cb0f02295f5ae", "versionType": "git"}, {"lessThan": "226f4a490d1a938fc838d8f8c46a4eca864c0d78", "status": "affected", "version": "f531d13bdfe3f4f084aaa8acae2cb0f02295f5ae", "versionType": "git"}]}, {"defaultStatus": "affected", "product": "Linux", "programFiles": ["net/xfrm/xfrm_nat_keepalive.c"], "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "vendor": "Linux", "versions": [{"status": "affected", "version": "6.11"}, {"lessThan": "6.11", "status": "unaffected", "version": "0", "versionType": "semver"}, {"lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*", "status": "unaffected", "version": "6.12.101", "versionType": "semver"}, {"lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*", "status": "unaffected", "version": "6.18.40", "versionType": "semver"}, {"lessThanOrEqual": "7.1.*", "status": "unaffected", "version": "7.1.5", "versionType": "semver"}, {"lessThanOrEqual": "*", "status": "unaffected", "version": "7.2", "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"}]}], "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"}], "cveTags": [], "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nxfrm: nat_keepalive: avoid double free on send error\n\nnat_keepalive_send() frees the keepalive skb whenever the IPv4 or IPv6\nsend helper reports an error.\n\nThat cleanup is only correct before the skb is handed to the output\npath. Once ip_build_and_send_pkt() or ip6_xmit() takes ownership, the\nnetworking stack may already have consumed the skb before returning an\nerror, so freeing it again is unsafe.\n\nHandle the pre-handoff failure cases inside nat_keepalive_send_ipv4()\nand nat_keepalive_send_ipv6(), where the caller still owns the skb, and\nkeep nat_keepalive_send() responsible only for family dispatch and the\nunsupported-family cleanup path."}], "id": "CVE-2026-72137", "lastModified": "2026-08-17T06:18:13.583", "metrics": {"cvssMetricV31": [{"cvssData": {"attackComplexity": "LOW", "attackVector": "NETWORK", "availabilityImpact": "HIGH", "baseScore": 9.8, "baseSeverity": "CRITICAL", "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH", "integrityImpact": "HIGH", "privilegesRequired": "NONE", "scope": "UNCHANGED", "userInteraction": "NONE", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H", "version": "3.1"}, "exploitabilityScore": 3.9, "impactScore": 5.9, "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "type": "Secondary"}]}, "published": "2026-08-15T06:21:31.223", "references": [{"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/226f4a490d1a938fc838d8f8c46a4eca864c0d78"}, {"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5b0c4c916f202b8fd13d12afb6af62b385622f81"}, {"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a8a7e6a9ff8a4c1f067694ddbd44be67fdf36693"}, {"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0a4dc7efa825bce60a8da8f7d43c864a159abde"}], "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "vulnStatus": "Received"}

{"bugzilla": {"description": "kernel: xfrm: nat_keepalive: avoid double free on send error", "id": "2516703", "url": "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2516703"}, "csaw": false, "cvss3": {"cvss3_base_score": "7.0", "cvss3_scoring_vector": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H", "status": "draft"}, "cwe": "CWE-1341", "details": ["A flaw was found in the `xfrm` subsystem of the Linux kernel, specifically within the `nat_keepalive` component. This vulnerability occurs when the `nat_keepalive_send()` function attempts to free a network packet buffer (skb) that may have already been freed by the networking stack. This double free can lead to memory corruption, potentially resulting in a denial of service or other unpredictable system behavior."], "name": "CVE-2026-72137", "package_state": [{"cpe": "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10", "fix_state": "Affected", "package_name": "kernel", "product_name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10"}, {"cpe": "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6", "fix_state": "Not affected", "package_name": "kernel", "product_name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6"}, {"cpe": "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7", "fix_state": "Not affected", "package_name": "kernel", "product_name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7"}, {"cpe": "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7", "fix_state": "Not affected", "package_name": "kernel-rt", "product_name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7"}, {"cpe": "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8", "fix_state": "Not affected", "package_name": "kernel", "product_name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8"}, {"cpe": "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8", "fix_state": "Not affected", "package_name": "kernel-rt", "product_name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8"}, {"cpe": "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9", "fix_state": "Not affected", "package_name": "kernel", "product_name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9"}, {"cpe": "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9", "fix_state": "Not affected", "package_name": "kernel-rt", "product_name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9"}], "public_date": "2026-08-15T00:00:00Z", "references": ["https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72137\nhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72137\nhttps://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026081531-CVE-2026-72137-5de5@gregkh/T"], "threat_severity": "Important"}

{"affected": [{"configurations": [{"platform": null, "status": "affected", "versions": {"scheme": "code_commit", "value": "[f531d13bdfe3f4f084aaa8acae2cb0f02295f5ae,d0a4dc7efa825bce60a8da8f7d43c864a159abde)"}}, {"platform": null, "status": "affected", "versions": {"scheme": "code_commit", "value": "[f531d13bdfe3f4f084aaa8acae2cb0f02295f5ae,5b0c4c916f202b8fd13d12afb6af62b385622f81)"}}, {"platform": null, "status": "affected", "versions": {"scheme": "code_commit", "value": "[f531d13bdfe3f4f084aaa8acae2cb0f02295f5ae,a8a7e6a9ff8a4c1f067694ddbd44be67fdf36693)"}}, {"platform": null, "status": "affected", "versions": {"scheme": "code_commit", "value": "[f531d13bdfe3f4f084aaa8acae2cb0f02295f5ae,226f4a490d1a938fc838d8f8c46a4eca864c0d78)"}}], "enrichment": {"confidence": 99.0, "confidence_source": "inferred", "scores": [{"score": 99.0, "source": "inferred"}, {"score": 100.0, "source": "matching"}]}, "original": {"product": "Linux", "source": "cna", "vendor": "Linux"}, "product": "linux_kernel", "vendor": "linux"}, {"configurations": [{"platform": null, "status": "affected", "versions": {"scheme": "semver", "value": "6.11"}}, {"platform": null, "status": "unaffected", "versions": {"scheme": "semver", "value": "[0,6.11)"}}, {"platform": null, "status": "unaffected", "versions": {"scheme": "semver", "value": "[6.12.101,6.13.0)"}}, {"platform": null, "status": "unaffected", "versions": {"scheme": "semver", "value": "[6.18.40,6.19.0)"}}, {"platform": null, "status": "unaffected", "versions": {"scheme": "semver", "value": "[7.1.5,7.2.0)"}}, {"platform": null, "status": "unaffected", "versions": {"scheme": "generic", "value": "[7.2-rc4,*]"}}], "enrichment": {"confidence": 99.0, "confidence_source": "inferred", "scores": [{"score": 99.0, "source": "inferred"}, {"score": 100.0, "source": "matching"}]}, "original": {"product": "Linux", "source": "cna", "vendor": "Linux"}, "product": "linux_kernel", "vendor": "linux"}], "created": "2026-08-15T08:45:05.630912+00:00", "updated": "2026-08-22T10:15:04.767573+00:00", "vendors": ["linux", "linux$PRODUCT$linux_kernel"]}