CVE-2026-68290
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) TCP implementation. A race condition can occur during network namespace teardown, where a concurrent system control (sysctl) write operation attempts to access a socket that has already been freed. This use-after-free vulnerability can lead to system instability or a denial of service.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Important severity rather than Moderate because an unprivileged local user with network namespace creation capabilities can reliably trigger the race condition to corrupt kernel memory, which can lead to privilege escalation or complete system termination. While Reliable Datagram Sockets over TCP is not used in standard configurations, the protocol module can be autoloaded upon request by unprivileged processes in environments where unprivileged user namespaces are enabled. Consequently, systems running default installations may be exposed if unprivileged namespace manipulation is permitted.
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 | 7.8 | N/A | 7.8 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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