# CVE-2026-31418: netfilter: ipset: drop logically empty buckets in mtype_del

> A logic error in Linux kernel ipset handling fails to release empty buckets, potentially leading to resource exhaustion and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-82727, BELL-CVE-2026-31418, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31418, GHSA-vwvf-62c8-j66c, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-31418, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-31418, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-31418, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-31418, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-31418, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31418

## What is CVE-2026-31418?

CVE-2026-31418 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 13 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: ipset: drop logically empty buckets in mtype_del

mtype_del() counts empty slots below n->pos in k, but it only drops the
bucket when both n->pos and k are zero. This misses buckets whose live
entries have all been removed while n->pos still points past deleted slots.

Treat a bucket as empty when all positions below n->pos are unused and
release it directly instead of shrinking it further.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31418?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-31418?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-31418 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31418 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-31418 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-31418 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 13 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31418 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31418/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31418/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-31418
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31418
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-31418

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31418/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.