Linux Kernel up to 6.18.58/7.2.12 TCP Congestion Control net/ipv4/tcp.c do_tcp_getsockopt use after free

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-$25k	1.36

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as very critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.58/7.2.12. This issue affects the function do_tcp_getsockopt of the file net/ipv4/tcp.c of the component TCP Congestion Control. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-99138. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.58/7.2.12. It has been classified as very critical. This affects the function do_tcp_getsockopt of the file net/ipv4/tcp.c of the component TCP Congestion Control. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tcp: fix use-after-free in do_tcp_getsockopt(TCP_CC_INFO) do_tcp_getsockopt() reads icsk->icsk_ca_ops and dereferences the get_info function pointer without rcu_read_lock(). With BPF struct_ops congestion control, ca_ops can point to dynamically allocated memory that is freed concurrently, resulting in a use-after-free when the kernel dereferences or calls through the stale pointer. BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in do_tcp_getsockopt+0x2037/0x23e0 Read of size 8 at addr ffff888013701258 by task exploit/149 do_tcp_getsockopt+0x2037/0x23e0 (net/ipv4/tcp.c:4564) tcp_getsockopt+0x91/0xf0 __sys_getsockopt+0xf7/0x170 Fix this by wrapping the ca_ops load and get_info call within rcu_read_lock()/rcu_read_unlock(), and using READ_ONCE() to load the icsk_ca_ops pointer.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-99138 since 09/25/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/28/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.59 or 7.2.13 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 86814e5370068ec2bf0caa6e6d55c3e5bfc6c324/39aa489e85752f9de214edb0f85e4d578e57af29/385e474086c2e7e29e2dded690be40dc273e20ee 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
• 6.18.52
• 6.18.53
• 6.18.54
• 6.18.55
• 6.18.56
• 6.18.57
• 6.18.58
• 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
• 7.2.9
• 7.2.10
• 7.2.11
• 7.2.12

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: 10.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
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: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

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 6.18.59/7.2.13
Patch: 86814e5370068ec2bf0caa6e6d55c3e5bfc6c324/39aa489e85752f9de214edb0f85e4d578e57af29/385e474086c2e7e29e2dded690be40dc273e20ee

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/28/2026 +33 days Advisory disclosed
10/28/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/28/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-99138 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-99138
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-427893

Entryinfo

Created: 10/28/2026 12:43
Changes: 10/28/2026 12:43 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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