CVE-2026-97596 ipvs: reject invalid states in connection template sync records
An attacker can send crafted IPVS sync records to trigger out-of-bounds memory access, potentially leading to code execution or system crash.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-97596?
CVE-2026-97596 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Linux, published on 25 Sep 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:
ipvs: reject invalid states in connection template sync records
IPVS sync receivers validate protocol states before creating or updating a connection. For connection templates, however, they only log states outside the template state range and still store the value in the connection.
A template can be returned by ordinary connection lookup. TCP and SCTP then use the invalid state as an index into their transition tables.
Reject invalid template states in both sync protocol versions before looking up or modifying a connection. The version 1 path handles both IPv4 and IPv6 records.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97596?
How do I fix CVE-2026-97596?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-97596 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97596 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-104652, BELL-CVE-2026-97596, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97596, GHSA-x8xm-jq59-9m58, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97596.