CVE-2024-26581

Local privilege escalation via premature interval garbage collection

Published Feb 20, 2024 · Updated Aug 5, 2026

Use-after-free in the Linux kernel nftables subsystem allows local users to escalate privileges through crafted netlink batches. During interval-set insertion, nft_rbtree_gc_elem treats a just-added, inactive interval-end element as garbage, removes it, and leaves transaction processing to reuse and free the stale object. The path requires CAP_NET_ADMIN in the relevant user namespace; successful triggering can expose kernel memory, corrupt kernel state, gain root privileges, or panic the host.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability2.22%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in the Linux kernel nftables subsystem allows local users to escalate privileges through crafted netlink batches. During interval-set insertion, nft_rbtree_gc_elem treats a just-added, inactive interval-end element as garbage, removes it, and leaves transaction processing to reuse and free the stale object. The path requires CAP_NET_ADMIN in the relevant user namespace; successful triggering can expose kernel memory, corrupt kernel state, gain root privileges, or panic the host.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-26581
Published
Feb 20, 2024
Updated
Aug 5, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 20, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=50cbb9d195c197af671869c8cadce3bd483735a0 <2bab493a5624444ec6e648ad0d55a362bcb4c003
  2. Affected versionversion=5.10.190 <5.10.210
  3. Affected versionversion=5.15.124 <5.15.149
  4. Affected versionversion=5.4.262 <5.4.269
  5. Affected versionversion=6.1.43 <6.1.78
  6. Affected versionversion=6.4.8 <6.5
  7. Affected versionversion=6.5
  8. Affected versionversion=8284a79136c384059e85e278da2210b809730287 <c60d252949caf9aba537525195edae6bbabc35eb
  9. Affected versionversion=893cb3c3513cf661a0ff45fe0cfa83fe27131f76 <4cee42fcf54fec46b344681e7cc4f234bb22f85a
  10. Affected versionversion=89a4d1a89751a0fbd520e64091873e19cc0979e8 <1296c110c5a0b45a8fcf58e7d18bc5da61a565cb
  11. Affected versionversion=acaee227cf79c45a5d2d49c3e9a66333a462802c <10e9cb39313627f2eae4cd70c4b742074e998fd8
  12. Affected versionversion=cd66733932399475fe933cb3ec03e687ed401462
  13. Affected versionversion=f718863aca469a109895cb855e6b81fff4827d71 <60c0c230c6f046da536d3df8b39a20b9a9fd6af0
  14. Affected versionversion=f718863aca469a109895cb855e6b81fff4827d71 <6eb14441f10602fa1cf691da9d685718b68b78a9
  15. Affected versionversion=f718863aca469a109895cb855e6b81fff4827d71 <b734f7a47aeb32a5ba298e4ccc16bb0c52b6dbf7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=50cbb9d195c197af671869c8cadce3bd483735a0 <2bab493a5624444ec6e648ad0d55a362bcb4c003; version=5.10.190 <5.10.210; version=5.15.124 <5.15.149; version=5.4.262 <5.4.269; version=6.1.43 <6.1.78; version=6.4.8 <6.5; version=6.5; version=8284a79136c384059e85e278da2210b809730287 <c60d252949caf9aba537525195edae6bbabc35eb; version=893cb3c3513cf661a0ff45fe0cfa83fe27131f76 <4cee42fcf54fec46b344681e7cc4f234bb22f85a; version=89a4d1a89751a0fbd520e64091873e19cc0979e8 <1296c110c5a0b45a8fcf58e7d18bc5da61a565cb; version=acaee227cf79c45a5d2d49c3e9a66333a462802c <10e9cb39313627f2eae4cd70c4b742074e998fd8; version=cd66733932399475fe933cb3ec03e687ed401462; version=f718863aca469a109895cb855e6b81fff4827d71 <60c0c230c6f046da536d3df8b39a20b9a9fd6af0; version=f718863aca469a109895cb855e6b81fff4827d71 <6eb14441f10602fa1cf691da9d685718b68b78a9; version=f718863aca469a109895cb855e6b81fff4827d71 <b734f7a47aeb32a5ba298e4ccc16bb0c52b6dbf7

Published CVSS scores

7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.8Linux Kernel CVE TeamCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.9Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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