CVE-2026-97616 json
net/sched: act_api: release all action references on NEWACTION failure
published 2026-09-25 44 d ago modified 2026-10-30 9 d ago also EUVD-2026-86747
- cvss
- —
- not scored
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.2%
- EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 12%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net/sched: act_api: release all action references on NEWACTION failure
When a batched RTM_NEWACTION request replaces an existing action, tcf_idr_check_alloc() takes a temporary reference on it. If a later action fails to initialize, tcf_action_destroy() uses strict release semantics to clean up the actions initialized so far. For an action bound to a filter, the strict check returns -EPERM without dropping the temporary reference.
This error also makes tcf_action_destroy() return before releasing subsequent entries. Any new action initialized between the bound action and the failing entry is leaked together with its reserved IDR slot, preventing reuse of its index.
Use tcf_idr_release() to drop each reference held by the batch without rejecting bound actions. This allows cleanup to continue through all initialized entries and preserves the module reference release when an action is destroyed. Explicit action deletion and flushing retain their separate bind-count checks.
Patch / fix
- Linux Linux 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.111, 6.18.53, 7.2.7, 7.3
- linux Debian 13 6.12.111-1
- linux Debian 14 7.2.7-1
- linux-6.12 Debian 12 6.12.111-1~deb12u1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97616
- linux Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-42.42
- linux-aws Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1016.17
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1016.18
- linux-ibm Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1017.17
- linux-riscv Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-42.42.1
- linux-oracle Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1015.16
- linux-hwe-7.0 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1
- linux-oem-7.0 Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1017.17
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97616
Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
- kernel-source openSUSE Tumbleweed 7.2.9-1.1
opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:12074-1
- kernel Azure Linux 3.0 6.6.161.1-1
azure linux advisories AZL-104505
Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/b7133be1faa35b38f68d78a9f950f1dddf3eb8e5 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/b83a51a83e85411c050c7b16cdc43b331c6565be commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/e469765708b1afa9b9565dbafca09e22ec4edfa7 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b5730a1c7def8993b3feba764008d1ff5c9dcea commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/f908c8a969946a45225fd7f9d9a85771e12ae0a8 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/64b36eaef6ea5ada9aea4c2cf87099aaa8a4869b commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/048617743febf6530111cfb594e9bbbd7918bf67 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/478eb5abb51931a152abab068f8a717b7ff480fd commit
Vendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2026-97616 updated cvss 5.5
kernel: net/sched: act_api: release all action references on NEWACTION failure
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 moreaffected: no fix planned “Out of support scope”
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +83 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernel Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8, openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9 Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9affected: no fix available “Fix deferred”
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
Exploit prediction
0.22% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 12% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
Affected products
- Linux Linux
Classification
- Technology feeds
References
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/b7133be1faa35b38f68d78a9f950f1dddf3eb8e5
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/b83a51a83e85411c050c7b16cdc43b331c6565be
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/e469765708b1afa9b9565dbafca09e22ec4edfa7
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/1b5730a1c7def8993b3feba764008d1ff5c9dcea
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/f908c8a969946a45225fd7f9d9a85771e12ae0a8
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/64b36eaef6ea5ada9aea4c2cf87099aaa8a4869b
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/048617743febf6530111cfb594e9bbbd7918bf67
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/478eb5abb51931a152abab068f8a717b7ff480fd
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-97616
- NVD CVE-2026-97616
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