CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-98969

Low risk· EPSS 6%
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.17%

6th percentile - higher than 6% of all known CVEs

Summary

In the Linux kernel net/sched em_text, em_text_change() passes an algo array without an enforced NUL terminator to textsearch_prepare(). On the TS_AUTOLOAD retry, request_module() with %s reads past the array, disclosing kernel memory into the modprobe command line. Requires CAP_NET_ADMIN in the target network namespace.

Risk Assessment

A local user with CAP_NET_ADMIN can disclose kernel memory (out-of-bounds read), potentially aiding bypass of protections such as KASLR.

Recommendation

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix that rejects the attribute when no NUL exists within TC_EM_TEXT_ALGOSIZ bytes.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

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Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: em_text: reject unterminated algo before autoload This is a follow-up to commit 9c572a83037a ("net/sched: fix potential stack infoleak in em_text_dump()"), which zero-initialised the dump-side struct. Sashiko pointed at a pre-existing bug that exposed the change-side input-validation gap open. em_text_change() casts the raw netlink attribute payload to struct tcf_em_text and passes conf->algo, a 16-byte array with no enforced NUL terminator, to textsearch_prepare(). On the TS_AUTOLOAD retry textsearch_prepare() calls request_module("ts_%s", algo); vsnprintf() walks %s until it finds a NUL, so an algo[] with no NUL reads past the array into the adjacent struct fields and payload and feeds those bytes to the usermode helper command line. This is an out-of-bounds read and a kernel memory disclosure. Reject the attribute when no NUL exists within TC_EM_TEXT_ALGOSIZ bytes, matching the check xt_string has had since 3ab720881b6e. Conditions to recreate the bug: - CAP_NET_ADMIN on the target netns (namespace-local via unshare -Urn is enough) - install clsact on an interface, then add a basic filter with one text ematch whose algo[] is 16 bytes with no NUL (e.g. "A"*16) and pattern_len at least 1 - the add fails with -ENOENT and the kernel invokes modprobe with a module name made of "ts_" plus the 16 bytes and the adjacent payload

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS