CVE-2026-98589

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's BPF (Berkeley Packet Filter) verifier. When packet pointers are passed into subprograms that mutate packet data, the verifier incorrectly assumes the underlying memory remains valid across calls, failing to account for operations that invalidate or relocate packet buffers. A local user with permissions to load BPF programs can exploit this flaw to cause memory corruption, potentially leading to a Denial of Service (DoS) or privilege escalation.

This vulnerability is rated as having a Moderate impact because exploitation requires a local attacker to hold elevated administrative capabilities, specifically CAP_BPF or CAP_NET_ADMIN, to load network programs that modify packet buffers. On standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux installations, unprivileged accounts cannot load these program types, restricting the attack surface to highly privileged contexts or administrative users. While malicious bytecode could trigger kernel memory corruption and cause a system crash, the necessity for high privileges significantly lowers the overall operational risk.

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.