CVE-2026-74492: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: ipset: do not update comments from kernel-side hash adds mtype

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: ipset: do not update comments from kernel-side hash adds mtype_resize() copies

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: ipset: do not update comments from kernel-side hash adds mtype_resize() copies comment pointers with memcpy(), not the comment objects themselves. During the window after an entry has been copied but before the table swap and backlog replay, the old table is still published for packet-side updates while the replacement-table entry already holds the same ip_set_comment_rcu pointer. If xt_SET --add-set ... --exist hits that old entry in this window, mtype_add() calls ip_set_init_comment() even though packet-side adds carry no comment payload. That call frees the shared comment through the old entry, so the replacement-table entry now holds a stale pointer. When the queued add is replayed on the new table, mtype_add() calls ip_set_init_comment() again and strlen() dereferences the stale pointer. Fix this in mtype_add() by skipping ip_set_init_comment() when ext->target marks a packet-side add. Userspace adds still update comments, while packet-side adds can no longer free comment storage shared with a resize copy.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

What it means for a small business

Linux is on the computers, phones or browsers your team uses every day. Turn on automatic updates and restart: most of these fixes only take effect after a restart.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.14%, higher than 3% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 29, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

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Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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