CVE-2026-74281 tipc: reject inverted service ranges from peer bindings
A remote attacker can cause memory exhaustion and denial of service in the Linux kernel by sending TIPC publications with inverted service ranges.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-74281?
CVE-2026-74281 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
tipc: reject inverted service ranges from peer bindings
tipc_update_nametbl() inserts a binding advertised by a peer node using the lower and upper service-range bounds taken directly from the wire, without checking that lower <= upper. The local bind path validates the ordering (tipc_uaddr_valid()), but the name-distribution path does not.
A binding with lower > upper is inserted at the far end of the service-range rbtree (keyed on lower) where no lookup or withdrawal can ever match it (service_range_foreach_match() requires sr->lower <= end). The publication, its service_range node and the augmented rbtree entry are then leaked for the lifetime of the namespace, and there is no per-peer cap equivalent to TIPC_MAX_PUBL on locally created bindings.
Reject inverted ranges in the network path as well. A peer node can otherwise leak unbounded binding-table memory by sending PUBLICATION items with lower > upper.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-74281?
How do I fix CVE-2026-74281?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-74281 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-74281 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-74281, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-74281, GHSA-x4hp-m4vp-wc59, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-74281.