CVE-2026-23278 | netfilter: nf_tables: always walk all pending catchall elements

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_tables: always walk all pending catchall elements During transaction processing we might have more than one catchall element: 1 live catchall element and 1 pending element that is coming as part of the new batch. If the map holding the catchall elements is also going away, its required to toggle all catchall elements and not just the first viable candidate. Otherwise, we get: WARNING: ./include/net/netfilter/nf_tables.h:1281 at nft_data_release+0xb7/0xe0 [nf_tables], CPU#2: nft/1404 RIP: 0010:nft_data_release+0xb7/0xe0 [nf_tables] [..] __nft_set_elem_destroy+0x106/0x380 [nf_tables] nf_tables_abort_release+0x348/0x8d0 [nf_tables] nf_tables_abort+0xcf2/0x3ac0 [nf_tables] nfnetlink_rcv_batch+0x9c9/0x20e0 [..]

Published: 2026-03-20 Last update: 2026-04-02 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Undergoing Analysis，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-23278 is rated Low Risk (32.5/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-23278

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-20 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-23278

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-23278

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-23278

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-23278 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 3, open 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-23278
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-23278
suse high CVE-2026-23278 severity important: SUSE including 79 source package names (2.1.3-6.144:kernel-default-base-6.4.0-41.1.21.18, 2.1.3-7.127:kernel-default-6.4.0-41.1, …), 218 product×package rows across 42 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (42 product lines)): Known Not Affected 137, First Fixed 61, Fixed 20. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-23278/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-23278 medium priority: Ubuntu including 157 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1256 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 871, ignored 169, needed 109, released 83, not-affected 24. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-23278

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-23278

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2026-23278

cvelogic Threat Intelligence