Kernel fault via stale ESP-in-TCP ingress device
Published Sep 4, 2026 · Updated Sep 4, 2026
NULL-pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel releases allows attackers to trigger a kernel fault via queued ESP-in-TCP data. The handle_esp() path restores skb->dev from a saved interface index without rejecting a failed dev_get_by_index_rcu() lookup before route construction. The trigger requires queued ESP-in-TCP data to outlive ingress-device removal, such as veth or network-namespace teardown.
Summary
What happened
NULL-pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel releases allows attackers to trigger a kernel fault via queued ESP-in-TCP data. The handle_esp() path restores skb->dev from a saved interface index without rejecting a failed dev_get_by_index_rcu() lookup before route construction. The trigger requires queued ESP-in-TCP data to outlive ingress-device removal, such as veth or network-namespace teardown.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-80846
- Published
- Sep 4, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 4, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 4, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 4, 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=5.6
- Affected versionversion=e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593 <239d0f71af09dc2029fd4d730cb24b8c83aaa43a
- Affected versionversion=e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593 <2dd1609cadff46c4b20ce53b91ab9cce1380456a
- Affected versionversion=e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593 <328e40aa774b446969c69b654c52a051a95af8a1
- Affected versionversion=e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593 <6af5cdb03819a5ce6e945992635c6c5e91045367
- Affected versionversion=e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593 <7911e0236616487b89db6bd3ba3f408abd10eb23
- Affected versionversion=e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593 <943d95233b8b4a88994e244fcf466f8c403d63f1
- Affected versionversion=e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593 <c296d25efbc840be24de83f56d43bc47e714ace9
- Affected versionversion=e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593 <e1d7c5ac1c246ce5775f604515de0a59fbf2116e
- Affected versionversion=e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593 <f00235f9d12301183d61f75fbe4105506f3e5140
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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