Rate-limit disruption via overflowing nft_limit token counter
Published Apr 2, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Integer overflow in Linux kernel nft_limit 4.3 through 6.8-rc1 allows local users to disrupt rate limiting via an extreme rule rate. In nft_limit_init, converting an excessive configured rate into the internal token-counter scale wraps the unsigned arithmetic instead of rejecting the rule. The path requires permission to administer nftables, and the resulting consequence is incorrect rate limiting with availability impact.
Summary
What happened
Integer overflow in Linux kernel nft_limit 4.3 through 6.8-rc1 allows local users to disrupt rate limiting via an extreme rule rate. In nft_limit_init, converting an excessive configured rate into the internal token-counter scale wraps the unsigned arithmetic instead of rejecting the rule. The path requires permission to administer nftables, and the resulting consequence is incorrect rate limiting with availability impact.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-26668
- Published
- Apr 2, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-190
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 2, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=4.3
- Affected versionversion=d2168e849ebf617b2b7feae44c0c0baf739cb610 <00c2c29aa36d1d1827c51a3720e9f893a22c7c6a
- Affected versionversion=d2168e849ebf617b2b7feae44c0c0baf739cb610 <79d4efd75e7dbecd855a3b8a63e65f7265f466e1
- Affected versionversion=d2168e849ebf617b2b7feae44c0c0baf739cb610 <9882495d02ecc490604f747437a40626dc9160d0
- Affected versionversion=d2168e849ebf617b2b7feae44c0c0baf739cb610 <bc6e242bb74e2ae616bfd2b250682b738e781c9b
- Affected versionversion=d2168e849ebf617b2b7feae44c0c0baf739cb610 <c9d9eb9c53d37cdebbad56b91e40baf42d5a97aa
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
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Your stack
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