Counter underflow via concurrent reset race
Published May 27, 2026 · Updated May 27, 2026
Race condition in Linux Kernel nft_counter reset handling allows local users to corrupt counter accounting through concurrent resets. The reset path fetches a shared total before subtraction without serializing the combined operation, allowing parallel resets to read and subtract the same value and underflow the counter. Exploitation requires local privileges sufficient to invoke parallel netfilter dump-and-reset operations; published sources identify no specific hang, crash, or reboot outcome.
Summary
What happened
Race condition in Linux Kernel nft_counter reset handling allows local users to corrupt counter accounting through concurrent resets. The reset path fetches a shared total before subtraction without serializing the combined operation, allowing parallel resets to read and subtract the same value and underflow the counter. Exploitation requires local privileges sufficient to invoke parallel netfilter dump-and-reset operations; published sources identify no specific hang, crash, or reboot outcome.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-45897
- Published
- May 27, 2026
- Updated
- May 27, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 27, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 27, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=3cb03edb4de33fd04c4ea55f47397b96a8657c53 <0cdc6d5a26f2d1f7f15a43526841b679445c32e2
- Affected versionversion=3cb03edb4de33fd04c4ea55f47397b96a8657c53 <779c60a5190c42689534172f4b49e927c9959e4e
- Affected versionversion=6.1.107 <6.2
- Affected versionversion=6.6.48 <6.7
- Affected versionversion=6.7
- Affected versionversion=f123293db16dcd0cd81b246ae60e6362f0025d0a
- Affected versionversion=fb1adb05ea87b6149e65a31e511756c4f470d0cd
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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