VulnerabilityPublished 15 Aug 2026Updated 9 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-74281: Linux kernel · tipc: reject inverted service ranges from peer bindings

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High · fixed in 5.15.0-1117.124~20.04.1 : patch Linux kernel soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 13:47 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 52% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 5.15.0-1117.124~20.04.1, 5.15.0-1123.132~20.04.1, 5.15.0-1122.131~20.04.1 +42

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 15 Aug 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.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-x4hp-m4vp-wc59

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected <7.0.0-38.38	Fixed in 7.0.0-38.38
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-aws`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected <7.0.0-1014.14	Fixed in 7.0.0-1014.14
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected <7.0.0-1017.17	Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure-fde`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected <7.0.0-1016.16	Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.16
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gcp`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected <7.0.0-1014.14	Fixed in 7.0.0-1014.14
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gke`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gke?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected <7.0.0-1008.9	Fixed in 7.0.0-1008.9

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A patch is available and should be applied to affected Linux kernel versions to reject inverted service ranges from peer bindings in the TIPC subsystem. The vendor advisory confirms that this issue has been resolved. Systems running affected versions should update to the fixed kernel releases as provided by their distribution.

Description

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's TIPC subsystem allowed insertion of inverted service ranges from peer bindings without proper validation, leading to memory leaks in the binding table. This flaw was fixed by rejecting inverted ranges in the network path. The issue affects specific Linux kernel versions and has a CVSS score of 7.5 with a medium severity rating.

Impact

An attacker controlling a peer node can cause unbounded memory leaks in the TIPC binding table by sending PUBLICATION items with inverted service ranges (lower > upper). This can lead to denial of service due to resource exhaustion on the affected system. There is no direct confidentiality or integrity impact reported.

Summary

The vulnerability in the Linux kernel's TIPC (Transparent Inter-Process Communication) subsystem involved the function tipc_update_nametbl() inserting bindings advertised by peer nodes using lower and upper service-range bounds directly from the wire without verifying that the lower bound is less than or equal to the upper bound. While local bindings were validated, the name-distribution path lacked this check, allowing insertion of bindings with lower > upper. Such bindings are placed at the far end of the service-range red-black tree, where lookups or withdrawals never match them, causing the publication and associated data structures to leak memory for the lifetime of the namespace. There is no per-peer cap on these bindings, enabling a peer node to leak unbounded binding-table memory by sending malformed PUBLICATION items. The fix involves rejecting inverted service ranges in the network path to prevent this memory leak.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 25 Oct 2026, 09:02 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats