Linux Kernel up to 6.18.51/7.2.5 BPF XDP dev_xdp_install privileges management

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
7.8	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as very critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.51/7.2.5. Affected is the function dev_xdp_install of the component BPF XDP. This manipulation causes privileges management. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-90146. The attack can only be executed locally. There is no exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.51/7.2.5 and classified as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function dev_xdp_install of the component BPF XDP. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a privileges management vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-269. The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf, xdp: move offload check into dev_xdp_install() bpf_xdp_link_update() calls dev_xdp_install() directly and skips dev_xdp_attach(), so the checks in dev_xdp_attach() do not run. A user can make an XDP link with a normal program and then swap in an offloaded or device-bound program with BPF_LINK_UPDATE, which puts it on the software path. dev_xdp_install() is the one place all three paths go through: "ip link set xdp" and BPF_LINK_CREATE reach it via dev_xdp_attach(), and BPF_LINK_UPDATE calls it directly. So move the program checks (offloaded, bound to another device, device-bound in generic mode, native vs generic, DEVMAP and CPUMAP) there, and keep only the netlink-flag check (XDP_FLAGS_UPDATE_IF_NOEXIST) in dev_xdp_attach().

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-90146 since 09/11/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. An attack has to be approached locally. Additional levels of successful authentication are needed for exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/17/2026). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1068 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 6.18.52, 7.2.6 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch ea7b35dcc9430293b861bc7bad0c546f193c85f9/03022dd874070768a7099f18b1944c633641315f/ad27ed7d2309419a129078d781504f486b1b469a is able to eliminate this problem. 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

• 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
• 6.18.23
• 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
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 8.2
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.8

VulDB Base Score: 8.2
VulDB Temp Score: 7.8
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Privileges management
CWE: CWE-269 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc1
Patch: ea7b35dcc9430293b861bc7bad0c546f193c85f9/03022dd874070768a7099f18b1944c633641315f/ad27ed7d2309419a129078d781504f486b1b469a

Timelineinfo

09/11/2026 CVE reserved
09/17/2026 +6 days Advisory disclosed
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-90146 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-90146
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-406669

Entryinfo

Created: 09/17/2026 20:05
Changes: 09/17/2026 20:05 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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