CVE-2026-53219: netfilter: x_tables: avoid leaking percpu counter pointers

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: 2026-06-25 · updated 2026-10-15

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: x_tables: avoid leaking percpu counter pointers The native and compat get-entries paths copy the fixed rule entry header from the kernelized rule blob to userspace before overwriting the entry's counter fields with a sanitized counter snapshot. On SMP kernels, entry->counters.pcnt contains the percpu allocation address used by x_tables rule counters. A caller can provide a userspace buffer that faults during the initial fixed-header copy after pcnt has been copied but before the later sanitized counter copy runs. The syscall then returns -EFAULT while leaving the raw percpu pointer in userspace. Copy only the fixed entry prefix before counters from the kernelized rule blob, then copy the sanitized counter snapshot into the counter field. Apply this ordering to the IPv4, IPv6, and ARP native and compat get-entries implementations so a fault cannot expose the internal percpu counter pointer.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 4.2 before 5.10.259; from 5.11 before 5.15.210; from 5.16 before 6.1.176; from 6.2 before 6.6.143; from 6.7 before 6.12.94; from 6.13 before 6.18.36 — fixed in 5.10.259, 5.15.210, 6.1.176, 6.12.94, 6.18.36, 6.6.143

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.259, 5.15.210, 6.1.176, 6.12.94. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

Get alerted when CVE-2026-53219 or the next vulnerability affects your stack