Kernel service interruption via unchecked shift count
Published Apr 22, 2026 · Updated Apr 22, 2026
Improper input validation in Linux Kernel ctnetlink allows local users to interrupt service through malformed netlink attributes. The ctnetlink path accepts TCP window-scale values from 0 through 255 and later uses them as a 32-bit shift count, although valid values end at 14. Local low-privilege access is required, and the published impact is limited to availability with no confidentiality or integrity loss.
Summary
What happened
Improper input validation in Linux Kernel ctnetlink allows local users to interrupt service through malformed netlink attributes. The ctnetlink path accepts TCP window-scale values from 0 through 255 and later uses them as a 32-bit shift count, although valid values end at 14. Local low-privilege access is required, and the published impact is limited to availability with no confidentiality or integrity loss.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-31495
- Published
- Apr 22, 2026
- Updated
- Apr 22, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 22, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 22, 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=2.6.22
- Affected versionversion=c8e2078cfe414a99cf6f2f2f1d78c7e75392e9d4 <2ef71307c86a9f866d6e28f1a0c06e2e9d794474
- Affected versionversion=c8e2078cfe414a99cf6f2f2f1d78c7e75392e9d4 <435b576cd2faa75154777868f8cbb73bf71644d3
- Affected versionversion=c8e2078cfe414a99cf6f2f2f1d78c7e75392e9d4 <45c33e79ae705b7af97e3117672b6cd258dd0b1b
- Affected versionversion=c8e2078cfe414a99cf6f2f2f1d78c7e75392e9d4 <4f7d25f3f0786402ba48ff7d13b6241d77d975f5
- Affected versionversion=c8e2078cfe414a99cf6f2f2f1d78c7e75392e9d4 <675c913b940488a84effdeeac5a1cfb657b59804
- Affected versionversion=c8e2078cfe414a99cf6f2f2f1d78c7e75392e9d4 <8f15b5071b4548b0aafc03b366eb45c9c6566704
- Affected versionversion=c8e2078cfe414a99cf6f2f2f1d78c7e75392e9d4 <c6cb41eaae875501eaaa487b8db6539feb092292
- Affected versionversion=c8e2078cfe414a99cf6f2f2f1d78c7e75392e9d4 <fcec5ce2d73a41668b24e3f18c803541602a59f6
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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