CVE-2026-52970

Local service interruption via conntrack reference leak

Published Jun 24, 2026 · Updated Jun 24, 2026

Resource leak in the nftables conntrack component of Linux Kernel allows local users to exhaust memory through expectation evaluation. nft_ct_expect_obj_eval() allocates a connection-tracking expectation and fails to release its local reference after nf_ct_expect_related(), retaining the object on each evaluation. Exploitation requires low-privileged local access and repeated evaluation of an affected nftables conntrack expectation; the documented consequence is service interruption through memory exhaustion, not data access or modification.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.13%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Resource leak in the nftables conntrack component of Linux Kernel allows local users to exhaust memory through expectation evaluation. nft_ct_expect_obj_eval() allocates a connection-tracking expectation and fails to release its local reference after nf_ct_expect_related(), retaining the object on each evaluation. Exploitation requires low-privileged local access and repeated evaluation of an affected nftables conntrack expectation; the documented consequence is service interruption through memory exhaustion, not data access or modification.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-52970
Published
Jun 24, 2026
Updated
Jun 24, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 24, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jun 24, 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.3
  2. Affected versionversion=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <19f94b6fee75b3ef7fbc06f3745b9a771a8a19a4
  3. Affected versionversion=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <1dced0725e2fae3ac3416274db20a7ff5a46931d
  4. Affected versionversion=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <26ab32ec73941871c97562ee1f39587950dc3b68
  5. Affected versionversion=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <2aef1b13d5c0285f340512c6c07eb858fd018fd8
  6. Affected versionversion=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <7b96242ceedfe249f158419f3254bcee04173ffe
  7. Affected versionversion=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <84c422cea5a45fe56be839f25880f21fd33940cd
  8. Affected versionversion=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <cdb9a25dd3416d427e8b2753210f8baf44207577
  9. Affected versionversion=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <ecca618e1e339494911090474ed87742c0f73976

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=5.3; version=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <19f94b6fee75b3ef7fbc06f3745b9a771a8a19a4; version=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <1dced0725e2fae3ac3416274db20a7ff5a46931d; version=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <26ab32ec73941871c97562ee1f39587950dc3b68; version=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <2aef1b13d5c0285f340512c6c07eb858fd018fd8; version=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <7b96242ceedfe249f158419f3254bcee04173ffe; version=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <84c422cea5a45fe56be839f25880f21fd33940cd; version=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <cdb9a25dd3416d427e8b2753210f8baf44207577; version=857b46027d6f91150797295752581b7155b9d0e1 <ecca618e1e339494911090474ed87742c0f73976

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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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