CVE-2026-118593
Description
A flaw was found in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 kernel builds. An incomplete backport of the CVE-2026-46099 fix in RHEL 9.6 through 9.10 left a local_bh imbalance in seg6_input_core(), where the drop path returns with bottom halves still disabled. This can lead to softirq starvation and denial of service on systems with SRv6 tunnels configured. Upstream and RHEL 10 are not affected.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Moderate severity because exploitation requires an atypical network setup using Segment Routing over IPv6 (SRv6) lightweight tunnels and can only lead to a denial of service. Under default configurations, SRv6 tunneling is not active, limiting the attack surface to specialized routing deployments. If an affected host routes specially crafted packets that trigger a routing lookup failure in the tunnel subsystem, bottom halves remain disabled, potentially resulting in system hangs without compromising confidentiality or integrity.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.9 | N/A | 5.9 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | High |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)
Inconsistent locking discipline can lead to deadlock.
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Memory; Modify Application Data
This can lead to data or memory corruption.
Other
Technical Impact: Varies by Context; Unexpected State
This can lead to unexpected resource state changes and behaviors.
Frequently Asked Questions
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