CVE-2026-72051
Local privilege bypass in Linux ip6_tunnel allowing tunnel modification
Is CVE-2026-72051 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-72051 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.17% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-72051?
CVE-2026-72051 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-72051?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-72051. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-72051 affect?
CVE-2026-72051 affects Linux kernel (ip6_tunnel), ip6_tnl_changelink(), Network namespaces (netns). Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-72051?
Upgrade kernel to patched version; restrict CAP_NET_ADMIN and audit netns tunnel configs
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Local attacker with CAP_NET_ADMIN in one netns can modify tunnels in another netns, enabling privilege escalation, traffic interception, or network disruption.
Patch when possible
- affected>= 0bd8762824e73a3cce7b7560a97463301764b616 and < 2d53ee7daabe733deb81f51d2cc90188f8ad59a1
- affected>= 0bd8762824e73a3cce7b7560a97463301764b616 and < 82e53e7281c71e174f9f5877c566a623c637b406
- affected>= 0bd8762824e73a3cce7b7560a97463301764b616 and < 5252db8fb604321133138c7069d6fc3fcd89cdee
- affected>= 0bd8762824e73a3cce7b7560a97463301764b616 and < 2636d061bc237a2446a146e42dcc6563acfa7432
- affected>= 0bd8762824e73a3cce7b7560a97463301764b616 and < 7f68f7928484f463a5bc0d50e6fdd8d16f55a5aa
- affected>= 0bd8762824e73a3cce7b7560a97463301764b616 and < 234cd54fc500f69db43e37de38603da617fbbeea
- affected>= 0bd8762824e73a3cce7b7560a97463301764b616 and < d4bcc202a3530c856e1cb183384bc9cc8fddab22
- affected>= 0bd8762824e73a3cce7b7560a97463301764b616 and < 2496fa0b7d180b3ad356b514e7ff93bb14e6140a
- affected3.12
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.