Linux Kernel up to 7.0.12 netlabel netlbl_unlabel_addrinfo_get mask information disclosure

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.0.12. Affected is the function netlbl_unlabel_addrinfo_get of the component netlabel. Executing a manipulation of the argument mask can lead to information disclosure. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2026-53238. There is no available exploit. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.0.12. It has been declared as problematic. This vulnerability affects the function netlbl_unlabel_addrinfo_get of the component netlabel. The manipulation of the argument mask with an unknown input leads to a information disclosure vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-200. The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netlabel: validate unlabeled address and mask attribute lengths netlbl_unlabel_addrinfo_get() used the address attribute length to determine whether the attribute data could be read as an IPv4 or IPv6 address, but did not independently validate the corresponding mask attribute length. A crafted Generic Netlink request could therefore provide a valid IPv4/IPv6 address attribute with a shorter mask attribute, which would later be read as a full struct in_addr or struct in6_addr. NLA_BINARY policy lengths are maximum lengths by default, so use NLA_POLICY_EXACT_LEN() for the unlabeled IPv4/IPv6 address and mask attributes. This rejects short attributes during policy validation and also exposes the exact length requirements through policy introspection.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-53238 since 06/09/2026. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 06/25/2026). The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1592.

Upgrading to version 5.10.259, 5.15.210, 6.1.176, 6.6.143, 6.12.94, 6.18.36 or 7.0.13 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 975a84fd741440853380d37465b6e226cf47254c/672f0f3b8f875ffe6525a37847eafa7648c4c0c6/95bda3eac0b1454c2cee98d58d9ba6dd8391e843/07a18f5c90dd3d586b73242f5a5bbf0a72f2fdc6/71c52da13c3737493b42d20d9f33de34e03b3156/0c4bb32ad7fdc2dc6a8050f41eb04d4bda56b6c8/ccfe292a966079c61ea68a2da303b2a336170993/9772589b57e44aedc240211c5c3f7a684a034d3a is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.258
• 5.15.209
• 6.1.175
• 6.6.142
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
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• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
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• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
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• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
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• 6.12.72
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• 6.12.80
• 6.12.81
• 6.12.82
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• 6.12.84
• 6.12.85
• 6.12.86
• 6.12.87
• 6.12.88
• 6.12.89
• 6.12.90
• 6.12.91
• 6.12.92
• 6.12.93
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
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• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 7.0.0
• 7.0.1
• 7.0.2
• 7.0.3
• 7.0.4
• 7.0.5
• 7.0.6
• 7.0.7
• 7.0.8
• 7.0.9
• 7.0.10
• 7.0.11
• 7.0.12

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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