VulnerabilityPublished 18 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-98495: Linux kernel · net: arp: terminate device name before lookup

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · fixed in d8b6529e80bcb4fb8177121404cbb3377acaebd2 : update Linux kernel when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

Severity

Medium

Rated Medium by Threat Radar's AI analysis · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 11% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in d8b6529e80bcb4fb8177121404cbb3377acaebd2, ba664d83638640cf454b65167339cbf20dfd6f10, ae6d704dbf9542b0a0830ec91a2db4f30307e7d8 +5

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Oct 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 ≥ 36fbf1e52bd3ff8a5cb604955eedfc9350c2e6cc, < d8b6529e80bcb4fb8177121404cbb3377acaebd2	Fixed in d8b6529e80bcb4fb8177121404cbb3377acaebd2
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 36fbf1e52bd3ff8a5cb604955eedfc9350c2e6cc, < ba664d83638640cf454b65167339cbf20dfd6f10	Fixed in ba664d83638640cf454b65167339cbf20dfd6f10
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 36fbf1e52bd3ff8a5cb604955eedfc9350c2e6cc, < ae6d704dbf9542b0a0830ec91a2db4f30307e7d8	Fixed in ae6d704dbf9542b0a0830ec91a2db4f30307e7d8
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 36fbf1e52bd3ff8a5cb604955eedfc9350c2e6cc, < 47107491b48ceef0a2faa7a010cfa961f211ef9f	Fixed in 47107491b48ceef0a2faa7a010cfa961f211ef9f
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 36fbf1e52bd3ff8a5cb604955eedfc9350c2e6cc, < 7389757d88f54237951d7497d9c4dae7cc6d64be	Fixed in 7389757d88f54237951d7497d9c4dae7cc6d64be
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 36fbf1e52bd3ff8a5cb604955eedfc9350c2e6cc, < 414bbad9928598904313299ac9e037a73f520be1	Fixed in 414bbad9928598904313299ac9e037a73f520be1

AI-suggested

A fix is available and has been applied in the Linux kernel commits identified by the fixedVersions hashes. Users should update their Linux kernel to a version that includes these fixes to remediate the vulnerability.

Description

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's ARP ioctl handling allows an out-of-bounds read due to improper termination of the device name field before lookup. This flaw occurs because the arp_dev field may lack a NUL terminator, causing strcmp() to read beyond the intended memory when matching interface names. The issue has been fixed by ensuring the device name is properly terminated before lookup.

Impact

This vulnerability allows an out-of-bounds read in kernel memory during ARP ioctl processing, which could potentially lead to information disclosure or kernel instability. However, no known exploits in the wild have been reported.

Summary

The Linux kernel's ARP ioctl copies a user-supplied struct arpreq into a stack object, where the arp_dev field can contain IFNAMSIZ bytes without a terminating NUL character. This input is then passed to dev_get_by_name_rcu() or __dev_get_by_name(), where strcmp() may read past the end of the stack object if a matching alternative interface name exists, leading to an out-of-bounds read. The vulnerability is resolved by terminating the arp_dev field before performing the lookup to prevent this out-of-bounds memory access.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Oct 2026, 11:04 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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