CVE-2026-98364

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's IPsec (XFRM) networking subsystem. A race condition occurs when creating policy bundles while a network device is concurrently removed, leading to a use-after-free condition where the kernel accesses already-freed device memory. A local attacker can exploit this flaw to potentially escalate privileges or cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by crashing the system.

This vulnerability is rated as Important severity because local attackers could trigger kernel memory corruption to escalate privileges or compromise system availability through an immediate crash. Although exploiting the race condition requires specific timing during network interface teardown, the IPsec framework is built directly into standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernels. Multi-tenant systems and shared container hosts are particularly susceptible where unprivileged users can create network namespaces or manipulate interface lifecycles.

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.