CVE-2026-98596

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's IPv6 networking subsystem. A race condition during network device unregistration can lead to improper reference counting of uncached routes. A local attacker could exploit this flaw to cause an internal resource leak, leading to memory exhaustion and a Denial of Service (DoS).

This vulnerability is rated as Moderate because exploitation requires local access and precise timing during network interface unregistration, limiting the blast radius to denial of service through memory exhaustion without impacting confidentiality or integrity. A local attacker could trigger repeated device removals in an IPv6 environment to gradually leak kernel route references. Earlier distributions, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and 9, do not include the vulnerable networking code and are not affected.

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.