VulnerabilityPublished 22 Aug 2026Updated 21 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-74611: Linux kernel · tls: rx: restore msg_iter before TLS 1.3 optimistic retry

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.8 Critical · fixed in c71bacacd59166adbea423a04e7474b0e8245b84 : patch Linux kernel as a priority.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 13:47 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

9.8Critical

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

EPSS

0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 51% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

Exploitation: No evidence of active exploitation and no public proof of concept
Automatable: Attackers can 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 c71bacacd59166adbea423a04e7474b0e8245b84, 68787940274ec89f41dc91b1a68ee1a16a90735f, 3c837266a734e2a22b24d2d567404a501d405835 +2

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
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: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to 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 22 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.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ ce61327ce989b63c0bd1cc7afee00e218ee696ac, < c71bacacd59166adbea423a04e7474b0e8245b84	Fixed in c71bacacd59166adbea423a04e7474b0e8245b84
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ ce61327ce989b63c0bd1cc7afee00e218ee696ac, < 68787940274ec89f41dc91b1a68ee1a16a90735f	Fixed in 68787940274ec89f41dc91b1a68ee1a16a90735f
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ ce61327ce989b63c0bd1cc7afee00e218ee696ac, < 3c837266a734e2a22b24d2d567404a501d405835	Fixed in 3c837266a734e2a22b24d2d567404a501d405835
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ ce61327ce989b63c0bd1cc7afee00e218ee696ac, < 3c4e21b1bf8e666a1c141e0f5813ece929570deb	Fixed in 3c4e21b1bf8e666a1c141e0f5813ece929570deb
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ ce61327ce989b63c0bd1cc7afee00e218ee696ac, < 1c8629651cb54f7b51db8fc0b1a9944e4a4b0f5e	Fixed in 1c8629651cb54f7b51db8fc0b1a9944e4a4b0f5e
LinuxLinux	Affected =6.0	Fixed in–

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tls: rx: restore msg_iter before TLS 1.3 optimistic retry tls_decrypt_sg() advances msg->msg_iter when it maps user pages for the optimistic TLS 1.3 zero-copy path. If the decrypted record turns out not to be unpadded application data, tls_decrypt_sw() retries into a kernel skb, but leaves the iterator advanced. The subsequent copy from the skb then writes decrypted bytes again at a later point in the caller iovecs while recvmsg() reports only the post-retry length. A TLS peer can trigger this after the receiver enables TLS_RX_EXPECT_NO_PAD. Revert the iterator by the number of bytes consumed by the optimistic mapping before retrying without zero-copy. Add a selftest which sends a TLS 1.3 control record with TLS_RX_EXPECT_NO_PAD enabled and verifies that recvmsg() does not overwrite later iovecs beyond the returned length.

References

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