CVE-2026-72136 (GCVE-0-2026-72136)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-08-15 05:53 – Updated: 2026-08-17 05:40
VLAI
Title
xfrm: xfrm_interface: require CAP_NET_ADMIN in the device netns for changelink
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfrm: xfrm_interface: require CAP_NET_ADMIN in the device netns for changelink xfrmi_changelink() operates on at most two netns, dev_net(dev) and the interface link netns xi->net. They differ once the device is created in or moved to a netns other than the one the request runs in. The rtnl changelink path checks CAP_NET_ADMIN only against dev_net(dev), so a caller privileged there but not in xi->net can rewrite an interface that lives in xi->net. Gate xfrmi_changelink() on rtnl_dev_link_net_capable() at its top, before any attribute is parsed.
Severity
8.8 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Linux Linux Affected: f203b76d78092faf248db3f851840fbecf80b40e , < 04c1aa57d08471b1953bf27c84ac9b3d78d71831 (git)
Affected: f203b76d78092faf248db3f851840fbecf80b40e , < bdfd1c21d90e628a58a9de79e024cdfcbedfa15c (git)
Affected: f203b76d78092faf248db3f851840fbecf80b40e , < 80ec68bba11f7f387c0e4099c2d7b2c84943eb99 (git)
Affected: f203b76d78092faf248db3f851840fbecf80b40e , < e9c90756f10da334fb31552e52c61f1dba69f491 (git)
Affected: f203b76d78092faf248db3f851840fbecf80b40e , < 37b61946d278c7deb0d40ba8f2b6fc0478d61dab (git)
Affected: f203b76d78092faf248db3f851840fbecf80b40e , < 8ca2a19a987a7d1cb4c916ed9723a1c6993b4276 (git)
Affected: f203b76d78092faf248db3f851840fbecf80b40e , < 3ba2b2ef7d6a63b190f15cfc2b4ba0fba59928ea (git)
Affected: f203b76d78092faf248db3f851840fbecf80b40e , < 095515d89b19b6cc19dfcdc846f97403ed1ebce3 (git)
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Linux Linux Affected: 4.19
Unaffected: 0 , < 4.19 (semver)
Unaffected: 5.10.261 , ≤ 5.10.* (semver)
Unaffected: 5.15.212 , ≤ 5.15.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.1.178 , ≤ 6.1.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.6.145 , ≤ 6.6.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.12.97 , ≤ 6.12.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.18.40 , ≤ 6.18.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.1.5 , ≤ 7.1.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.2 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
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{
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              "value": "AV:L - Exploitation requires a local RTM_NEWLINK changelink over an rtnetlink/netlink socket (rtnl_newlink \u2192 rtnl_changelink \u2192 xfrmi_changelink); this is a netlink configuration path, not remote packet handling, matching kernel Local guidance.\nAC:L - Once a cross-namespace xfrmi exists (dev_net(dev) \u2260 xi-\u003enet via IFLA_LINK_NETNSID creation or netns migration), bypassing the missing check is one deterministic changelink with attacker-chosen IFLA_XFRM_IF_ID; no race, timing, or layout dependency.\nPR:L - rtnl_link_get_net_capable() only requires CAP_NET_ADMIN in dev_net(dev), obtainable by an unprivileged user via user+network namespaces (unshare -Urn / map-root-user); CAP_NET_ADMIN in the sticky link netns xi-\u003enet is not required.\nUI:N - The attack is fully programmatic from the attacker\u0027s own process through netlink; no victim action such as mounting a filesystem, opening a file, or clicking is required.\nS:C - Privilege is checked against dev_net(dev) while xfrmi_changelink/xfrmi_update mutate live xfrm interface state in xi-\u003enet (hash unlink/relink, if_id binding), crossing from the attacker\u0027s net/user namespace into another tenant\u0027s or the host network namespace.\nC:H - Changing IFLA_XFRM_IF_ID in xi-\u003enet retargets xfrmi_lookup/xfrm_lookup_with_ifid so host IPsec SAs can deliver decrypted VPN cleartext to the attacker-controlled netdev in dev_net(dev), exposing confidential tunneled traffic.\nI:H - Unauthorized changelink rewrites live xfrm interface parameters and xi-\u003enet registration, enabling redirection or injection of IPsec encapsulation/decapsulation paths on Internet-facing VPN gateways and cloud IPsec endpoints.\nA:H - xfrmi_update() runs synchronize_net() and netdev_state_change(); breaking or rebinding if_id mapping disrupts production IPsec/VTI/xfrmi VPN paths, causing sustained loss of encrypted tunnel connectivity."
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    "datePublished": "2026-08-15T05:53:11.072Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-08-09T03:40:39.908Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:40:46.616Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
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            "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nxfrm: xfrm_interface: require CAP_NET_ADMIN in the device netns for changelink\n\nxfrmi_changelink() operates on at most two netns, dev_net(dev) and the\ninterface link netns xi-\u003enet. They differ once the device is created in\nor moved to a netns other than the one the request runs in. The rtnl\nchangelink path checks CAP_NET_ADMIN only against dev_net(dev), so a\ncaller privileged there but not in xi-\u003enet can rewrite an interface that\nlives in xi-\u003enet.\n\nGate xfrmi_changelink() on rtnl_dev_link_net_capable() at its top,\nbefore any attribute is parsed."
          }
        ],
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        "lastModified": "2026-08-17T06:18:13.443",
        "metrics": {
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              "cvssData": {
                "attackComplexity": "LOW",
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                "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
                "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
                "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
                "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
                "scope": "CHANGED",
                "userInteraction": "NONE",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H",
                "version": "3.1"
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              "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
              "type": "Secondary"
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        "published": "2026-08-15T06:21:31.103",
        "references": [
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        "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "vulnStatus": "Received"
      }
    },
    "redhat_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "Moderate",
      "current_release_date": "2026-08-17T23:41:50+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-72136",
      "id": "CVE-2026-72136",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-08-15T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_affected": "184",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "90",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: xfrm: xfrm_interface: require CAP_NET_ADMIN in the device netns for changelink",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-72136.json",
      "version": "3"
    },
    "suse_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "important",
      "current_release_date": "2026-09-15T01:29:01Z",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-72136",
      "id": "CVE-2026-72136",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-08-31T13:30:24Z",
      "product_status:known_affected": "123",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "239",
      "source": "SUSE CSAF VEX",
      "status": "interim",
      "title": "SUSE CVE CVE-2026-72136",
      "url": "https://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/security/csaf-vex/cve-2026-72136.json",
      "version": "4"
    }
  }
}



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Taxonomy of the tags.





Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.



Related by attack behaviour

Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.