SOC status:Duty analyst on shift

UK Cyber Defence
VulnerabilityAnalyzed

CVE-2026-43481

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net-shapers: don't free reply skb after genlmsg_reply() genlmsg_reply() hands the reply skb to netlink, and netlink_unicast() consumes it on all return paths, whether the skb is queued…

HIGH 7.8EPSS 0.12%

Does this matter?

High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.12%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net-shapers: don't free reply skb after genlmsg_reply() genlmsg_reply() hands the reply skb to netlink, and netlink_unicast() consumes it on all return paths, whether the skb is queued successfully or freed on an error path. net_shaper_nl_get_doit() and net_shaper_nl_cap_get_doit() currently jump to free_msg after genlmsg_reply() fails and call nlmsg_free(msg), which can hit the same skb twice. Return the genlmsg_reply() error directly and keep free_msg only for pre-reply failures.

CVSS 3.1
7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS
0.12% probability · 2th percentile
CISA KEV
Not listed
Affected
linux/linux kernel
Source
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.