Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc4 nfnetlink_queue __instance_destroy race condition

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	1.39

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as very critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc4. This impacts the function __instance_destroy of the component nfnetlink_queue. This manipulation causes race condition. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2026-98624. The attack is restricted to local execution. No exploit exists. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc4 and classified as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function __instance_destroy of the component nfnetlink_queue. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a race condition vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-362. The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently. 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: netfilter: nfnetlink_queue: hold nfnl mutex in event notifier We must serialize the release notifier and the config netlink function. A concurrent thread can issue close() which can call the release function while unrelated socket processes UNBIND request for same portid: Oops: general protection fault, [..] RIP: 0010:__instance_destroy+0x60/0x210 [nfnetlink_queue] Call Trace: nfqnl_recv_config+0x9b0/0xdc0 [nfnetlink_queue] nfnetlink_rcv_msg+0x7c2/0xeb0 ? __pfx_nfnetlink_rcv_msg+0x10/0x10 After this, parallel UNBIND and URELEASE events are impossible. This change isn't nice, but its the shortest fix given instances are not refcounted and the nfnetlink config callback drops the rcu read lock early due to need for sleeping allocations.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-98624 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. Attacking locally is a requirement. Additional levels of successful authentication are required for exploitation. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/18/2026).

Upgrading to version 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9 or 7.3-rc5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 46432f2e76f7c385d82506304a2928e7d293289f/597320337c3da06c92a9e95cfc755da66fedc476/2e9be1302f25c9be51c2fb8c907bc6d8a1050e33/d559e06a5ab7c064100aafd5c826eadd0f1c6216/1d1184411599a7c2217560bab3bbe641c6d03b95/07a3ec8fdc5a1267c00cd6fd1cf8bbb5cda913c1/8137a39e08e838ced234044384740ceeb99ed388/9461613afc59acef44a0071b0dd5075f6e993ffe 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

• 5.10.270
• 5.15.221
• 6.1.188
• 6.6.157
• 6.12.111
• 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
• 6.18.52
• 6.18.53
• 6.18.54
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.2.8
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2
• 7.3-rc3
• 7.3-rc4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
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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: Race condition
CWE: CWE-362
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 5.10.271/5.15.222/6.1.189/6.6.158/6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5
Patch: 46432f2e76f7c385d82506304a2928e7d293289f/597320337c3da06c92a9e95cfc755da66fedc476/2e9be1302f25c9be51c2fb8c907bc6d8a1050e33/d559e06a5ab7c064100aafd5c826eadd0f1c6216/1d1184411599a7c2217560bab3bbe641c6d03b95/07a3ec8fdc5a1267c00cd6fd1cf8bbb5cda913c1/8137a39e08e838ced234044384740ceeb99ed388/9461613afc59acef44a0071b0dd5075f6e993ffe

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/18/2026 +23 days Advisory disclosed
10/18/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/18/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-98624 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98624
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-422167

Entryinfo

Created: 10/18/2026 20:48
Changes: 10/18/2026 20:48 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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