Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2 ipvs hton_seq heap-based overflow

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.
9.5$5k-$25k0.00+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2. It has been declared as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function hton_seq of the component ipvs. Executing a manipulation can lead to heap-based overflow. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2026-98078. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. No exploit is available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc2 and classified as very critical. This vulnerability affects the function hton_seq of the component ipvs. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a heap-based overflow vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-122. A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc(). As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipvs: fix reversed sequence option serialization hton_seq() expects the host-order source first and the unaligned network-order destination second. The version 1 sync sender passes these arguments in reverse for both sequence blocks. This leaves 24 bytes of the kmalloc-backed message unwritten. It may disclose stale heap data and replace the live connection sequence state with values read from the buffer. Pass the connection sequence state as the source and the message payload as the destination for both blocks.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-98078 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be initiated remotely. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $5k-$25k (estimation calculated on 09/25/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.12.111, 6.18.53, 7.2.7 or 7.3-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch e1c9f9446d3eaae323f1689f9e5de3b1ad6e47ec/524599714558da83747c04952d378155c69f5b6b/de6cc6ec7932bc530f2bb92005dac9123d50659c/b04578b74f2d3755548fe9e829e3b2a6c6f966a1 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

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

Exploitinginfo

Class: Heap-based overflow
CWE: CWE-122 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

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

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.12.111/6.18.53/7.2.7/7.3-rc3
Patch: e1c9f9446d3eaae323f1689f9e5de3b1ad6e47ec/524599714558da83747c04952d378155c69f5b6b/de6cc6ec7932bc530f2bb92005dac9123d50659c/b04578b74f2d3755548fe9e829e3b2a6c6f966a1

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 Advisory disclosed
09/25/2026 +0 days CVE reserved
09/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-98078 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98078
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-410080

Entryinfo

Created: 09/25/2026 14:26
Changes: 09/25/2026 14:26 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Do you want to use VulDB in your project?

Use the official API to access entries easily!