CVE-2026-72255
netfilter: nf_queue: pin bridge device while NFQUEUE holds fake dst
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_queue: pin bridge device while NFQUEUE holds fake dst The br_netfilter fake rtable is embedded in struct net_bridge and is attached to bridged packets with skb_dst_set_noref(). If such a packet is queued to NFQUEUE, __nf_queue() upgrades that fake dst with skb_dst_force(). At that point the queued skb can hold a real dst reference after bridge teardown has started. The problem is not that every bridged packet needs its own dst reference. The problem is that NFQUEUE can keep the bridge private fake dst alive after unregister begins. Fix this by keeping the bridge fake dst model unchanged and pinning the bridge master device only while the packet sits in NFQUEUE. Record the bridge device in nf_queue_entry when the queued skb carries a bridge fake dst, take a device reference for the queue lifetime, and drop it when the queue entry is freed. Also make sure queued entries are reaped when that bridge device goes down, and drop the redundant nf_bridge_info_exists() test from the fake dst detection. This keeps netdev_priv(br->dev) alive until verdict completion, so the embedded fake rtable and its metrics backing storage cannot be freed out from under dst_release(). It also avoids the constant refcount bump and avoids using ipv4-specific dst helpers for IPv6 bridge traffic.
INFO
Published Date :
Aug. 15, 2026, 6:21 a.m.
Last Modified :
Aug. 17, 2026, 6:18 a.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 |
Solution
- Update the Linux kernel to include the netfilter fix.
- Ensure bridge devices are pinned while packets are queued.
- Reap queued entries when bridge devices go down.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-72255.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-72255 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-72255
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-72255 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-72255 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
CVE Modified by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Aug. 17, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added CVSS V3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Changed Affected [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '430521af7fe8a9c08f5a2554224a35f11f51d99e', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '3f03a2d225c668283110ad5f9ff159ba4591e2c7', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '01ace27af47801dd7f6b839e782b62863af979cc', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '0ca505346c5e2905ab7b5313af801fcf38f594a8', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '47b3af24de5fbed4bf2952de0f5294ef1a338a26', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': 'c9c9b37f8c5505224e8d206184df3bb668ee00cf', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['include/net/netfilter/nf_queue.h', 'net/netfilter/nf_queue.c', 'net/netfilter/nfnetlink_queue.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '3.18'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '3.18', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.1.178', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.1.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.6.145', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.6.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.12.97', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.12.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.18.40', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.18.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.1.5', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '7.1.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.2-rc1', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['include/net/netfilter/nf_queue.h', 'net/netfilter/nf_queue.c', 'net/netfilter/nfnetlink_queue.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '430521af7fe8a9c08f5a2554224a35f11f51d99e', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '3f03a2d225c668283110ad5f9ff159ba4591e2c7', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '01ace27af47801dd7f6b839e782b62863af979cc', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '0ca505346c5e2905ab7b5313af801fcf38f594a8', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '47b3af24de5fbed4bf2952de0f5294ef1a338a26', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': 'c9c9b37f8c5505224e8d206184df3bb668ee00cf', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['include/net/netfilter/nf_queue.h', 'net/netfilter/nf_queue.c', 'net/netfilter/nfnetlink_queue.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '3.18'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '3.18', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.1.178', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.1.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.6.145', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.6.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.12.97', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.12.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.18.40', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.18.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.1.5', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '7.1.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.2', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['include/net/netfilter/nf_queue.h', 'net/netfilter/nf_queue.c', 'net/netfilter/nfnetlink_queue.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] -
New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Aug. 15, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Affected [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '430521af7fe8a9c08f5a2554224a35f11f51d99e', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '3f03a2d225c668283110ad5f9ff159ba4591e2c7', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '01ace27af47801dd7f6b839e782b62863af979cc', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '0ca505346c5e2905ab7b5313af801fcf38f594a8', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': '47b3af24de5fbed4bf2952de0f5294ef1a338a26', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '34666d467cbf1e2e3c7bb15a63eccfb582cdd71f', 'lessThan': 'c9c9b37f8c5505224e8d206184df3bb668ee00cf', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['include/net/netfilter/nf_queue.h', 'net/netfilter/nf_queue.c', 'net/netfilter/nfnetlink_queue.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '3.18'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '3.18', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.1.178', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.1.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.6.145', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.6.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.12.97', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.12.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.18.40', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.18.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.1.5', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '7.1.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.2-rc1', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['include/net/netfilter/nf_queue.h', 'net/netfilter/nf_queue.c', 'net/netfilter/nfnetlink_queue.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_queue: pin bridge device while NFQUEUE holds fake dst The br_netfilter fake rtable is embedded in struct net_bridge and is attached to bridged packets with skb_dst_set_noref(). If such a packet is queued to NFQUEUE, __nf_queue() upgrades that fake dst with skb_dst_force(). At that point the queued skb can hold a real dst reference after bridge teardown has started. The problem is not that every bridged packet needs its own dst reference. The problem is that NFQUEUE can keep the bridge private fake dst alive after unregister begins. Fix this by keeping the bridge fake dst model unchanged and pinning the bridge master device only while the packet sits in NFQUEUE. Record the bridge device in nf_queue_entry when the queued skb carries a bridge fake dst, take a device reference for the queue lifetime, and drop it when the queue entry is freed. Also make sure queued entries are reaped when that bridge device goes down, and drop the redundant nf_bridge_info_exists() test from the fake dst detection. This keeps netdev_priv(br->dev) alive until verdict completion, so the embedded fake rtable and its metrics backing storage cannot be freed out from under dst_release(). It also avoids the constant refcount bump and avoids using ipv4-specific dst helpers for IPv6 bridge traffic. Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/01ace27af47801dd7f6b839e782b62863af979cc Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0ca505346c5e2905ab7b5313af801fcf38f594a8 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3f03a2d225c668283110ad5f9ff159ba4591e2c7 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/430521af7fe8a9c08f5a2554224a35f11f51d99e Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/47b3af24de5fbed4bf2952de0f5294ef1a338a26 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c9c9b37f8c5505224e8d206184df3bb668ee00cf