CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-43060NVD status: Modified

Linux: Use After Free

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2026-43060 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions 8a64e76933672b08bd85b63086f33432070fd729, 3da0b946835f33bf36b459ead764c61a761e689b, ab50302190b303f847c4eba0e31a01a56dec596e as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.12% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update Linux to 8a64e76933672b08bd85b63086f33432070fd729 or 3da0b946835f33bf36b459ead764c61a761e689b or ab50302190b303f847c4eba0e31a01a56dec596e or e68a8db3a0546482b34e9ca5ca886bcf73eb37bb, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Update Linux Kernel to 5.10.253 or 5.15.203 or 6.1.167 or 6.6.130, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
LinuxLinux7e0b2b57f01d183e1c84114f1f2287737358d748 up to, but not including, 8a64e76933672b08bd85b63086f33432070fd729; 7e0b2b57f01d183e1c84114f1f2287737358d748 up to, but not including, 3da0b946835f33bf36b459ead764c61a761e689b; 7e0b2b57f01d183e1c84114f1f2287737358d748 up to, but not including, ab50302190b303f847c4eba0e31a01a56dec596e; 7e0b2b57f01d183e1c84114f1f2287737358d748 up to, but not including, e68a8db3a0546482b34e9ca5ca886bcf73eb37bb; 7e0b2b57f01d183e1c84114f1f2287737358d748 up to, but not including, 6802ff8beceb9c4254318e81c1395720438f2cc2; 7e0b2b57f01d183e1c84114f1f2287737358d748 up to, but not including, f29a055e4f593e577805b41228b142b58f48df1b; 7e0b2b57f01d183e1c84114f1f2287737358d748 up to, but not including, 77da55dee67720e2b8d2db49a53334e6c017ee7b; 7e0b2b57f01d183e1c84114f1f2287737358d748 up to, but not including, 36eae0956f659e48d5366d9b083d9417f3263ddc; and 1 more ranges8a64e76933672b08bd85b63086f33432070fd729, 3da0b946835f33bf36b459ead764c61a761e689b, ab50302190b303f847c4eba0e31a01a56dec596e, e68a8db3a0546482b34e9ca5ca886bcf73eb37bb, 6802ff8beceb9c4254318e81c1395720438f2cc2, f29a055e4f593e577805b41228b142b58f48df1b
LinuxLinux Kernel4.19 up to, but not including, 5.10.253; 5.11 up to, but not including, 5.15.203; 5.16 up to, but not including, 6.1.167; 6.2 up to, but not including, 6.6.130; 6.7 up to, but not including, 6.12.78; 6.13 up to, but not including, 6.18.20; 6.19 up to, but not including, 6.19.10; 7.05.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.18.20

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
LowA basic user account is enough.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nft_ct: drop pending enqueued packets on removal Packets sitting in nfqueue might hold a reference to: - templates that specify the conntrack zone, because a percpu area is used and module removal is possible. - conntrack timeout policies and helper, where object removal leave a stale reference. Since these objects can just go away, drop enqueued packets to avoid stale reference to them. If there is a need for finer grain removal, this logic can be revisited to make selective packet drop upon dependencies.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Use After Free

The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory belongs to the code that operates on the new pointer.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
  • When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.

More Use After Free vulnerabilities (CWE-416)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Use After Free vulnerabilities

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