Kernel panic via ERSPAN metadata-route confusion
Published Oct 23, 2026 · Updated Oct 23, 2026
NULL dereference in Linux ip6erspan_tunnel_xmit allows local users to crash the kernel through traffic-control redirection. Its obsolete path-MTU update treats tunnel metadata attached by tc tunnel_key and redirected by mirred as a route, then reads an MTU through a nonexistent output device. The demonstrated trigger requires user and network namespace creation and native IPv6 ERSPAN support; an otherwise unprivileged process caused a kernel panic.
Summary
What happened
NULL dereference in Linux ip6erspan_tunnel_xmit allows local users to crash the kernel through traffic-control redirection. Its obsolete path-MTU update treats tunnel metadata attached by tc tunnel_key and redirected by mirred as a route, then reads an MTU through a nonexistent output device. The demonstrated trigger requires user and network namespace creation and native IPv6 ERSPAN support; an otherwise unprivileged process caused a kernel panic.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-99041
- Published
- Oct 23, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 23, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 23, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Oct 23, 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=4.16
- Affected versionversion=5a963eb61b7c39e6c422b6e48619d19d04719358 <2d06cb25a497d3a7034ef9d172626c2d6620a0f1
- Affected versionversion=5a963eb61b7c39e6c422b6e48619d19d04719358 <8bc60db48e8cba35488bbd6e1f94aa990afa275a
- Affected versionversion=5a963eb61b7c39e6c422b6e48619d19d04719358 <8f27260b989f488760289276377db24fbfb20bfa
- Affected versionversion=5a963eb61b7c39e6c422b6e48619d19d04719358 <b14a682ad7d45345701e08f9279d483a1da8b36c
- Affected versionversion=5a963eb61b7c39e6c422b6e48619d19d04719358 <f5b143f4cd3fb7673df8d727550478a4b762908a
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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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
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Technologies
Your stack
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