Bug 2516423 (CVE-2026-72435)

Summary: CVE-2026-72435 kernel: netfilter: ipset: fix order of kfree_rcu() and rcu_assign_pointer()
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's netfilter ipset component. An incorrect order of memory management operations, specifically calling `kfree_rcu()` before `rcu_assign_pointer()` when handling the comment extension, could lead to a memory corruption vulnerability. This could potentially allow an attacker to cause system instability or escalate privileges.
Story Points: ---
Clone Of: Environment:
Last Closed: Type: ---
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-15 06:11:43 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: ipset: fix order of kfree_rcu() and rcu_assign_pointer()

Sashiko pointed out that kfree_rcu() was called before
rcu_assign_pointer() in handling the comment extension.
Fix the order so that rcu_assign_pointer() called first.