HOMEVULNERABILITIESCVE-2026-52986
CRITICAL

CVE-2026-52986

Published: June 24, 2026· Updated: Jun 28, 2026

9.8
CVSS v3.1
EPSS:0.18%probability of exploitation in 30 daysPercentile:8.2th

Official Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: nf_conntrack_sip: don't use simple_strtoul

Replace unsafe port parsing in epaddr_len(), ct_sip_parse_header_uri(),

and ct_sip_parse_request() with a new sip_parse_port() helper that

validates each digit against the buffer limit, eliminating the use of

simple_strtoul() which assumes NUL-terminated strings.

The previous code dereferenced pointers without bounds checks after

sip_parse_addr() and relied on simple_strtoul() on non-NUL-terminated

skb data. A port that reaches the buffer limit without a trailing

character is also rejected as malformed.

Also get rid of all simple_strtoul() usage in conntrack, prefer a

stricter version instead. There are intentional changes:

- Bail out if number is > UINT_MAX and indicate a failure, same for

too long sequences.

While we do accept 05535 as port 5535, we will not accept e.g.

'sip:10.0.0.1:005060'. While its syntactically valid under RFC 3261,

we should restrict this to not waste cycles when presented with

malformed packets with 64k '0' characters.

- Force base 10 in ct_sip_parse_numerical_param(). This is used to fetch

'expire=' and 'rports='; both are expected to use base-10.

- In nf_nat_sip.c, only accept the parsed value if its within the 1k-64k

range.

- epaddr_len now returns 0 if the port is invalid, as it already does

for invalid ip addresses. This is intentional. nf_conntrack_sip

performs lots of guesswork to find the right parts of the message

to parse. Being stricter could break existing setups.

Connection tracking helpers are designed to allow traffic to

pass, not to block it.

Based on an earlier patch from Jenny Guanni Qu <[email protected]>.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2026-52986 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 9.8.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability
Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges Req.None
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
Impact
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Vendors & Products

Mentioned vendors (from description):
Linux
CPE data not yet available in NVD for this CVE.

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time
External links open in a new tab. Always verify in a controlled environment before use.

All References (8)

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2026-52986
CVSS Score9.8 / 10
SeverityCRITICAL
CISA KEVNo
EPSS (30d)0.18%
PublishedJun 24, 2026

Recommended Actions

  • Apply vendor patches immediately
  • Monitor CVE-2026-52986 in threat intel feeds
  • Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
Data sourced from NVD (NIST), CISA KEV, and EPSS (FIRST). Analysis generated by CTIWATCH.COM. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.