CVE-2026-64531

HIGH

net: openvswitch: reject oversized nested action attrs

Title source: cna
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 5 public exploits for CVE-2026-64531. PoCs published by HackSpeak, suominen, 0xBlackash.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This PoC exploits an integer wraparound vulnerability in the Linux kernel's Open vSwitch module (CVE-2026-64531) to achieve local privilege escalation (LPE) from an unprivileged user to root. The exploit leverages a 16-bit `nla_len` field overflow in nested action flows to gain arbitrary kernel read/write primitives, then manipulates task credentials to escalate privileges.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: openvswitch: reject oversized nested action attrs Open vSwitch stores generated flow actions as nlattrs, whose nla_len field is u16. Commit a1e64addf3ff ("net: openvswitch: remove misbehaving actions length check") allowed the total sw_flow_actions stream to grow beyond 64 KiB, which is valid, but also removed the last guard preventing a generated nested action attribute from exceeding U16_MAX. An oversized generated container can thus be closed with a truncated nla_len. A later dump or teardown then walks a structurally different stream than the one that was validated. In particular, an oversized nested CLONE/CT action may cause subsequent bytes in the generated stream to be interpreted as independent actions. Keep the larger total-action-stream behavior, but make nested action close reject generated containers that do not fit in nla_len, and return the error through all callers. For recursive SAMPLE, CLONE, DEC_TTL, and CHECK_PKT_LEN builders, trim resource-owning action-list tails in reverse construction order before discarding failed wrappers, so resources copied into the rejected tails are released before the wrappers are removed. Most failed outer wrappers are discarded by truncating actions_len after child resources have been released. CHECK_PKT_LEN also trims its parent after branch resources are gone. SET/TUNNEL close failures unwind their known tun_dst ownership directly, and SET_TO_MASKED has no external ownership and truncates on close failure.

Exploits (5)

github WORKING POC 4 stars
by HackSpeak · pythonpoc
https://github.com/HackSpeak/CVE-2026-64531

This PoC exploits an integer wraparound vulnerability in the Linux kernel's Open vSwitch module (CVE-2026-64531) to achieve local privilege escalation (LPE) from an unprivileged user to root. The exploit leverages a 16-bit `nla_len` field overflow in nested action flows to gain arbitrary kernel read/write primitives, then manipulates task credentials to escalate privileges.

Classification
Working Poc 98%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux kernel (openvswitch module) versions 5.15.180-5.15.211, 6.1.132-6.1.177, 6.6.84-6.6.144, 6.12.20-6.12.96, 6.18.0-6.18.39, 7.1.0-7.1.4
Auth required
Prerequisites: Linux x86-64 system with vulnerable kernel · OVS conntrack support with FTP helper enabled · Unprivileged user namespaces available (`unshare -Urn`) · Python 3.7+ · 2 GiB+ memory recommended
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Aug 04, 2026 Full analysis →
github WORKING POC 1 stars
by HackSpeak · pythonpoc
https://github.com/HackSpeak/ovswrap-poc

This PoC exploits a Linux kernel vulnerability (CVE-2026-64531) in Open vSwitch's netlink handling to achieve local privilege escalation (LPE). The exploit manipulates OVS datapath and flow commands to corrupt kernel memory structures, leveraging pre-derived kernel offsets for precise control.

Classification
Working Poc 98%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux kernel with Open vSwitch (OVS) module (specific version not stated, but likely recent as of 2026)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Local user access on the target system · Open vSwitch kernel module loaded · Python 3 environment · Appropriate kernel version with embedded offsets in the exploit
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Aug 03, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WRITEUP
by suominen · poc
https://github.com/suominen/ovswrap

This repository provides a detailed technical tracker for CVE-2026-64531 (OVSwrap), a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Linux kernel's Open vSwitch (OVS) datapath. The flaw involves an integer overflow in nested netlink action-attribute parsing, leading to heap out-of-bounds access and credential corruption. The writeup includes root cause analysis, patch details, affected versions, and distro-specific patch status tracking.

Classification
Writeup 99%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux kernel (versions 6.14 through 7.1 with Open vSwitch datapath and conntrack/FTP-helper support)
Auth required
Prerequisites: OVS kernel datapath in use · Conntrack/FTP-helper actions enabled · Unprivileged user namespaces enabled (for unprivileged trigger) · Local access to the target system
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Aug 02, 2026 Full analysis →
github WRITEUP
by 0xBlackash · poc
https://github.com/0xBlackash/CVE-2026-64531

This repository provides a detailed technical analysis of CVE-2026-64531, a memory corruption vulnerability in the Linux Kernel Open vSwitch (OVS) subsystem. The writeup explains the root cause (incorrect validation of nested Netlink attribute sizes), affected components, and potential impact (DoS, potential LPE), but does not include exploit code.

Classification
Writeup 98%
Attack Type
Dos
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Theoretical
Target: Linux Kernel (Open vSwitch component, net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Open vSwitch module loaded in the Linux kernel · Network access to send malformed Netlink attributes
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Aug 01, 2026 Full analysis →
github SCANNER
by mahfuzreham · shellpoc
https://github.com/mahfuzreham/OVSwrap-CVE-2026-64531-Mitigation-Tool

This repository provides a mitigation tool (Bash script) for CVE-2026-64531, which detects and blocks the vulnerable Open vSwitch (OVS) kernel module. It does not exploit the vulnerability but prevents its exploitation by blacklisting and unloading the module.

Classification
Scanner 98%
Attack Type
Other
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Open vSwitch (OVS) kernel module (unspecified version)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Root privileges · Vulnerable Open vSwitch kernel module installed or loaded
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Jul 31, 2026 Full analysis →

Scores

CVSS v3 7.8
EPSS 0.0013
EPSS Percentile 2.9%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

Status published
Products (28)
linux/Kernel < 5.15.212linux
linux/Kernel 5.16.0 - 6.1.178linux
linux/Kernel 6.13.0 - 6.18.40linux
linux/Kernel 6.14.0 - 7.1.5linux
linux/Kernel 6.2.0 - 6.6.145linux
linux/Kernel 6.7.0 - 6.12.97linux
Linux/Linux < 6.14
Linux/Linux 057dbc5b72e9fcac439cd561c3a539b8a0edeb92 - ab855641241387db062a5e41d9ad6b8561542572
Linux/Linux 2532adbfe917c0e71dba2650ffc6efe396314c87 - c66bd2626c2764f23764ff0f8277f44a9cfe8349
Linux/Linux 4b1a0ee6164c7204c68ab5a9c48c07bfe8852485 - d573250d228401f707f4dbc09d11227a6215ee5f
... and 18 more
Published Jul 27, 2026
Tracked Since Jul 27, 2026