CVE-2026-74746

A flaw was found in the netfilter flowtable component of the Linux kernel. This vulnerability occurs due to a timing issue where the system's garbage collection can free a network flow while it is still being set up. This can lead to a 'use-after-free' condition, where the system attempts to access memory that has already been released. This memory corruption could potentially result in a system crash (denial of service) or, in certain circumstances, allow for arbitrary code execution.

This vulnerability is rated as an Important severity flaw because race conditions during flowtable entry installation can cause slab use-after-free memory corruption, potentially allowing local privilege escalation or kernel crashes. In default Red Hat Enterprise Linux installations, netfilter flowtables are not active unless explicitly configured in nftables rulesets. Exposure is generally limited to environments where flow offload has been deployed or where unprivileged users can configure network namespaces.

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.

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.