VulnerabilityAnalyzed

CVE-2026-53266

Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Vulnerability

KEVHIGH 8.8EPSS 0.93%

Does this matter?

Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 21 September 2026). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable The ebtables SNAT target keeps the Ethernet source address rewrite behind skb_ensure_writable(skb, 0). This is intentional: at the bridge ebtables hooks the Ethernet header is addressed through skb_mac_header()/eth_hdr(), while skb->data points at the Ethernet payload. Asking skb_ensure_writable() for ETH_HLEN bytes would check the payload, not the Ethernet header, and would reintroduce the small packet regression fixed by commit 63137bc5882a. However, the optional ARP sender hardware address rewrite is different. It writes through skb_store_bits() at an offset relative to skb->data: skb_store_bits(skb, sizeof(struct arphdr), info->mac, ETH_ALEN) skb_header_pointer() only safely reads the ARP header; it does not make the later sender hardware address range writable. If that range is still held in a nonlinear skb fragment backed by a splice-imported file page, skb_store_bits() maps the frag page and copies the new MAC address directly into it. Ensure the ARP SHA range is writable before reading the ARP header and before calling skb_store_bits().

CVSS 3.1: 8.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS: 0.93% probability · 61th percentile
Public exploits: None in Exploit-DB
CISA KEV: Listed 18 September 2026 · due 21 September 2026
Weakness: CWE-787
Affected: linux/linux kernel
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

EPSS trend

EPSS 0.9% since 26 October 2026; no change recorded yet. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.

CISA notes

Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset's internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines. This vulnerability affects an open-source component, third-party library, protocol, or proprietary implementation that could be used by different products. For more information, please see: ; https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf84ad7c7a9ede46e31afaa41a1ba06a159e8c87; https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/76280b78cc9f23bdc6438e10ad6dff148ef8375b; https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b7e91939ba9be805a62a257fa4e227dffbb88fa0; https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/afd64b59c3de9bbbdd3759e834fdc55cda716e0b; https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/153ea96c806aea395daba907a4f88480b6ad5093; https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b18675263db1147c8e1cab625400c13a0d87bd2d; https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c9b5ff59feffb92a147a84a5aa28acd2cb8ff4c5; https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/67ba971ae02514d85818fe0c32549ab4bfa3bf49 ; BOD 26-04: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk ; Forensics Triage Requirements: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-implementation-guidance-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53266

References

Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.