CVE-2026-72233

System crash via stale skb pointers

Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 2026

Use-after-free in Linux's batman-adv component allows adjacent attackers to crash a system through crafted mesh traffic. batadv_bla_is_backbone_gw() retains gateway-address pointers into an skb after pskb_may_pull() can reallocate its backing buffer, then dereferences the stale addresses. Exploitation requires active batman-adv bridge-loop-avoidance packet processing; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability0.34%
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 Linux's batman-adv component allows adjacent attackers to crash a system through crafted mesh traffic. batadv_bla_is_backbone_gw() retains gateway-address pointers into an skb after pskb_may_pull() can reallocate its backing buffer, then dereferences the stale addresses. Exploitation requires active batman-adv bridge-loop-avoidance packet processing; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-72233
Published
Aug 15, 2026
Updated
Aug 15, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-416, CWE-825, T1499
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 15, 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=4.12
  2. Affected versionversion=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <41819c5467b6eb8ab4567f0ac98702ce9b6abbb1
  3. Affected versionversion=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <4a6673c55752a7aa41e28f51660eb981504ca088
  4. Affected versionversion=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <a9ab19fbca86b32e9a9ae9e1a63e70a7eab3400f
  5. Affected versionversion=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <ab2bac47a02637df1128a151e81d3ec14767f4bb
  6. Affected versionversion=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <cdf3b5af2bc4431e58629e8ad2086b1e9185c761
  7. Affected versionversion=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <dc16bbf53cede1baf564bf0c8a861114b64e18b3
  8. Affected versionversion=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <e5e18886aadd3870e2d84e32a9678317fab1dd9e
  9. Affected versionversion=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <f4fb97ecf677cd9c3aa4f3bfc6fbf5b0e4bdbbbf

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=4.12; version=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <41819c5467b6eb8ab4567f0ac98702ce9b6abbb1; version=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <4a6673c55752a7aa41e28f51660eb981504ca088; version=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <a9ab19fbca86b32e9a9ae9e1a63e70a7eab3400f; version=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <ab2bac47a02637df1128a151e81d3ec14767f4bb; version=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <cdf3b5af2bc4431e58629e8ad2086b1e9185c761; version=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <dc16bbf53cede1baf564bf0c8a861114b64e18b3; version=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <e5e18886aadd3870e2d84e32a9678317fab1dd9e; version=9e794b6bf4a2c65d698d7433ddfabc54a5d53a88 <f4fb97ecf677cd9c3aa4f3bfc6fbf5b0e4bdbbbf

Published CVSS scores

5.5Red HatCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
8.8Linux CNACVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
5.5OracleCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
3.1Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

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.

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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)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-416Use After Free
CWE-825Expired Pointer Dereference
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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