CVE Watchtower

← Back to CVE List

CVE-2026-98969NVD

Vulnerability Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net/sched: em_text: reject unterminated algo before autoload

This is a follow-up to commit 9c572a83037a ("net/sched: fix potential
stack infoleak in em_text_dump()"), which zero-initialised the dump-side
struct. Sashiko pointed at a pre-existing bug that exposed the change-side
input-validation gap open.

em_text_change() casts the raw netlink attribute payload to struct
tcf_em_text and passes conf->algo, a 16-byte array with no enforced NUL
terminator, to textsearch_prepare(). On the TS_AUTOLOAD retry
textsearch_prepare() calls request_module("ts_%s", algo); vsnprintf()
walks %s until it finds a NUL, so an algo[] with no NUL reads past the
array into the adjacent struct fields and payload and feeds those bytes
to the usermode helper command line. This is an out-of-bounds read and
a kernel memory disclosure.

Reject the attribute when no NUL exists within TC_EM_TEXT_ALGOSIZ bytes,
matching the check xt_string has had since 3ab720881b6e.

Conditions to recreate the bug:
- CAP_NET_ADMIN on the target netns (namespace-local via unshare -Urn
is enough)
- install clsact on an interface, then add a basic filter with one text
ematch whose algo[] is 16 bytes with no NUL (e.g. "A"*16) and
pattern_len at least 1
- the add fails with -ENOENT and the kernel invokes modprobe with a
module name made of "ts_" plus the 16 bytes and the adjacent payload
Severity Level
UNKNOWN
Published Date
Oct 23, 2026
Last Modified
Oct 30, 2026
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation yet
EPSS Score (30-Day)
0.21%Probability
Root Weakness (CWE)
N/A

Affected & Patched Versions

Affected Versions
Not provided by NVD for this CVE.
Patched Versions
Not provided by NVD for this CVE.
🎁7-Day Free Trial — Try Pro or Team, no card required.
📧Email Delivery — Threat intel straight to your inbox.
♾️Unlimited Vendors — Track your entire stack.
🚨All New CVEs — Be the first to know.
📈EPSS Spike Alerts — Catch rising risk before it peaks.
🎯Custom EPSS/CVSS — Filter noise, focus on risk.
🛡️Exploit Intel — A 2nd confirmed-exploit signal beyond KEV.
🐙GitHub Issues — Auto-tracked, no duplicates.
📬Weekly Digest — One clean summary, not inbox spam.
🏷️Watchlist Groups — Tag alerts by team (Infra/AppSec/SOC).
💬Webhooks — Slack & Teams integration.
🔀Smart Routing — Critical alerts to one channel, rest to another.
🚫Ad-Free — Uninterrupted experience.
🎁7-Day Free Trial — Try Pro or Team, no card required.
📧Email Delivery — Threat intel straight to your inbox.
♾️Unlimited Vendors — Track your entire stack.
🚨All New CVEs — Be the first to know.
📈EPSS Spike Alerts — Catch rising risk before it peaks.
🎯Custom EPSS/CVSS — Filter noise, focus on risk.
🛡️Exploit Intel — A 2nd confirmed-exploit signal beyond KEV.
🐙GitHub Issues — Auto-tracked, no duplicates.
📬Weekly Digest — One clean summary, not inbox spam.
🏷️Watchlist Groups — Tag alerts by team (Infra/AppSec/SOC).
💬Webhooks — Slack & Teams integration.
🔀Smart Routing — Critical alerts to one channel, rest to another.
🚫Ad-Free — Uninterrupted experience.