CVE-2026-52988

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's netfilter component. This vulnerability involves a concurrency issue during updates to netfilter rulesets. When multiple updates occur simultaneously, improper synchronization could lead to unsafe data access during netlink dump list traversal. This could result in system instability or unexpected behavior. The issue has been resolved by ensuring new hooks are published safely, preventing these concurrency problems.

This vulnerability is rated as Moderate impact because triggering the concurrency defect requires local access and concurrent interactions with the firewall subsystem, restricting the blast radius to a localized denial of service rather than code execution. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and 8 are not vulnerable because the underlying functionality was introduced in later upstream releases. Exploitation requires precise timing between legitimate ruleset modifications and netlink table dumps, making accidental or reliable disruption uncommon during standard operational workflows.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.