CVE-2026-72338: Linux kernel · net/sched: act_pedit: fix TOCTOU heap OOB write in tc offload
Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High · fixed in 27488e1a7f19757e6146edca9458ed4ffc545557 : patch Linux kernel soon.
Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 12:49 UTC
Thin evidence
One scorer or none| CNA (Linux) | CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 |
|---|
- 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 27488e1a7f19757e6146edca9458ed4ffc545557, 8e49cd891bda447c68122d672510a604a8bb6b24, 8b519cbcabe836a441369fbec1a8a6518a709251 +3
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 15 Aug 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 30 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
|
| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: act_pedit: fix TOCTOU heap OOB write in tc offload There is a TOCTOU race condition in flower lockless approach between sizing a flow_rule buffer and filling it. zdi-disclosures@trendmicro.com reports: The cls_flower classifier operates with TCF_PROTO_OPS_DOIT_UNLOCKED (fl_change runs without RTNL), while RTM_NEWACTION holds RTNL, so the independent locking domains make the race reachable in practice. KASAN confirms: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in tcf_pedit_offload_act_setup+0x81b/0x930 Write of size 4 at addr ffff888001f27520 by task poc-toctou/312 The buggy address is located 0 bytes to the right of allocated 288-byte region [ffff888001f27400, ffff888001f27520) (cache kmalloc-512) Note: The result is a heap OOB write attacker-controlled content into the adjacent slab object (requires CAP_NET_ADMIN). The fix introduces reading tcfp_nkeys under act->tcfa_lock in all places using a new tcf_pedit_nkeys_locked() which replaces the old tcf_pedit_nkeys(). Additionally we close the remaining TOCTOU window between the sizing read and the fill reads by more careful accounting. Rather than silently truncating the key count, which leads to incorrect action semantics offloaded to hardware and secondary OOB writes if the remaining capacity is zero or consumed by prior actions, we enforce remaining capacity checks and return -ENOSPC if the required space exceeds the remaining capacity.
References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/1afdf2268b71251ea70d80bd8232a2f022e62a73 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/0d8532a5e972a5351cf4ee4a435e0d65cbba8f23 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/27488e1a7f19757e6146edca9458ed4ffc545557 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/6f9b23eb92a894ae1118893996943990ee0b860e (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/8e49cd891bda447c68122d672510a604a8bb6b24 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/8b519cbcabe836a441369fbec1a8a6518a709251 (opens in a new tab)