CVE-2026-53000
Published: June 24, 2026· Updated: Jun 30, 2026
Official Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
netfilter: nat: use kfree_rcu to release ops
Florian Westphal says:
"Historically this is not an issue, even for normal base hooks: the data
path doesn't use the original nf_hook_ops that are used to register the
callbacks.
However, in v5.14 I added the ability to dump the active netfilter
hooks from userspace.
This code will peek back into the nf_hook_ops that are available
at the tail of the pointer-array blob used by the datapath.
The nat hooks are special, because they are called indirectly from
the central nat dispatcher hook. They are currently invisible to
the nfnl hook dump subsystem though.
But once that changes the nat ops structures have to be deferred too."
Update nf_nat_register_fn() to deal with partial exposition of the hooks
from error path which can be also an issue for nfnetlink_hook.
Technical Analysis
CVE-2026-53000 requires local access, meaning attackers must already have a foothold on the target system.
Exploitation requires low privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.
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 7.8.
CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown
Affected Vendors & Products
Exploit & PoC Resources
All References (6)
Quick Facts
Recommended Actions
- →Apply vendor patches immediately
- →Monitor CVE-2026-53000 in threat intel feeds
- →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts