CVE-2026-72712
Description
A flaw was found in Nmap. A remote attacker can exploit this denial of service vulnerability by sending a specially crafted packet that includes a zero-length Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) option. This malformed packet forces the application to enter an infinite loop during packet processing, consuming excessive memory and ultimately causing the Nmap application to crash.
Statement
Moderate: This denial of service vulnerability in Nmap allows a remote attacker to crash the application by sending a specially crafted TCP packet. The impact is limited to the availability of the Nmap process itself, typically affecting active network scanning operations rather than persistent services.
Mitigation
To mitigate this issue, avoid running Nmap with Network Scripting Engine (NSE) scripts that perform raw packet dissection against untrusted or potentially malicious network targets. This vulnerability is triggered by specially crafted TCP packets when Nmap is actively scanning with such scripts. If Nmap is not required, consider uninstalling the `nmap` package to eliminate the risk.
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 | 6.5 | N/A | 6.5 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | Required | N/A | Required |
| 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:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Amplification
An infinite loop will cause unexpected consumption of resources, such as CPU cycles or memory. The software's operation may slow down, or cause a long time to respond.
Frequently Asked Questions
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