CVE-2026-46101: netfilter: reject zero shift in nft_bitwise

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-05-27 · updated 2026-10-15

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: reject zero shift in nft_bitwise Reject zero shift operands for nft_bitwise left and right shift expressions during initialization. The carry propagation logic computes the carry from the adjacent 32-bit word using BITS_PER_TYPE(u32) - shift. A zero shift operand turns this into a 32-bit shift, which is undefined behaviour. Reject zero shift operands in the control plane, alongside the existing check for values greater than or equal to 32, so malformed rules never reach the packet path.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.6 before 5.10.258; from 5.11 before 5.15.209; from 5.16 before 6.1.175; from 6.2 before 6.6.140; from 6.7 before 6.12.86; from 6.13 before 6.18.27 — fixed in 5.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175, 6.12.86, 6.18.27, 6.6.140

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175, 6.12.86. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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