CVE-2026-64531: Linux kernel · net: openvswitch: reject oversized nested action attrs
Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High · fixed in f1efff8858403191361a01269c6fe8dd7f55a385 : patch Linux kernel soon.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 13:07 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 31% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- No evidence of active exploitation and no public proof of concept
- Automatable
- Attackers cannot reliably automate steps 1–4 of the kill chain
- Technical impact
- Total control over the software or total information disclosure
CISA SSVC assessment, 2026-10-16.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in f1efff8858403191361a01269c6fe8dd7f55a385, dbd14f736be02cfe73049bd801af89becd1a0749, d573250d228401f707f4dbc09d11227a6215ee5f +9
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 27 Jul 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: openvswitch: reject oversized nested action attrs Open vSwitch stores generated flow actions as nlattrs, whose nla_len field is u16. Commit a1e64addf3ff ("net: openvswitch: remove misbehaving actions length check") allowed the total sw_flow_actions stream to grow beyond 64 KiB, which is valid, but also removed the last guard preventing a generated nested action attribute from exceeding U16_MAX. An oversized generated container can thus be closed with a truncated nla_len. A later dump or teardown then walks a structurally different stream than the one that was validated. In particular, an oversized nested CLONE/CT action may cause subsequent bytes in the generated stream to be interpreted as independent actions. Keep the larger total-action-stream behavior, but make nested action close reject generated containers that do not fit in nla_len, and return the error through all callers. For recursive SAMPLE, CLONE, DEC_TTL, and CHECK_PKT_LEN builders, trim resource-owning action-list tails in reverse construction order before discarding failed wrappers, so resources copied into the rejected tails are released before the wrappers are removed. Most failed outer wrappers are discarded by truncating actions_len after child resources have been released. CHECK_PKT_LEN also trims its parent after branch resources are gone. SET/TUNNEL close failures unwind their known tun_dst ownership directly, and SET_TO_MASKED has no external ownership and truncates on close failure.
References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/ab855641241387db062a5e41d9ad6b8561542572 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/c66bd2626c2764f23764ff0f8277f44a9cfe8349 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/d573250d228401f707f4dbc09d11227a6215ee5f (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/f1efff8858403191361a01269c6fe8dd7f55a385 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/dbd14f736be02cfe73049bd801af89becd1a0749 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b41cbe05b184f8861712f0806cc0c4f5d8c6dfe (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/3f1f755366687d051174739fb99f7d560202f60b (opens in a new tab)
- openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/07/28/8 (opens in a new tab)
- openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/07/31/17 (opens in a new tab)
- openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/01/1 (opens in a new tab)
- openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/01/3 (opens in a new tab)
- openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/22/1 (opens in a new tab)