Host memory exhaustion via unaccounted multicast tables
Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Sep 25, 2026
Resource exhaustion in Linux 2.6.35 and later allows local users to grow host unreclaimable slab via multicast routing tables. The ip_mroute_setsockopt() and ip6_mroute_setsockopt() paths allocate and retain each unseen mr_table outside memcg accounting until namespace teardown. A non-root local user needs user and network namespaces with namespace-scoped CAP_NET_ADMIN and CAP_NET_RAW; repeated table IDs can exhaust host memory.
Summary
What happened
Resource exhaustion in Linux 2.6.35 and later allows local users to grow host unreclaimable slab via multicast routing tables. The ip_mroute_setsockopt() and ip6_mroute_setsockopt() paths allocate and retain each unseen mr_table outside memcg accounting until namespace teardown. A non-root local user needs user and network namespaces with namespace-scoped CAP_NET_ADMIN and CAP_NET_RAW; repeated table IDs can exhaust host memory.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-97939
- Published
- Sep 25, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 25, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 25, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 25, 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=2.6.35
- Affected versionversion=f0ad0860d01e47a3ffd220564c5c653b3afbe962 <0264b3ee09b118fec8a5471b4ca288f8ab84722f
- Affected versionversion=f0ad0860d01e47a3ffd220564c5c653b3afbe962 <b7ee18725f2292ab554aa96a101ae42d45f008bd
- Affected versionversion=f0ad0860d01e47a3ffd220564c5c653b3afbe962 <d0a2e2a4ee6bfe51e398bfb6921a7d0f4c26bc1c
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.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Upstream IPv6 MRT6_TABLE reproducerproof of concept · demonstrated
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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