---
title: "CVE-2026-97602: Linux Kernel - Heap Corruption & Privilege Escalation"
description: "Linux kernel contains a heap corruption vulnerability caused by stale IPv6 fragment reassembly metadata reuse in inet frags queues, letting local attackers escalate privileges in unprivileged network namespaces, exploit requires local access with network namespace capabilities."
url: https://panop.io/threat-heartbeat/CVE-2026-97602/
---

# CVE-2026-97602 Linux Kernel - Heap Corruption & Privilege Escalation

Linux kernel contains a heap corruption vulnerability caused by stale IPv6 fragment reassembly metadata reuse in inet frags queues, letting local attackers escalate privileges in unprivileged network namespaces, exploit requires local access with network namespace capabilities.

CVSS base score 7.8 /10

High

CISA KEV

Not listed

Public exploit

None known

EPSS

0.15% chance of exploitation in 30 days

[View the NVD record ↗](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97602)

## Details

Type

Heap Corruption

Impact

Privilege Escalation

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Published

25 September 2026

Updated

15 October 2026

## Vendor fix

Update to the latest Linux kernel version containing the fix for inet frags queue invalidation.

Patching closes this CVE. It does not tell you which of your systems run the affected version, or what else is exposed alongside them.

## References

- [https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97602](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97602)
- [https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf3d6c44c84c57e8a4bb7f40ad95b64f9b0198ba](https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf3d6c44c84c57e8a4bb7f40ad95b64f9b0198ba)
- [https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ff83367cda8eefbd62007ef1dff4f8104226d18a](https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ff83367cda8eefbd62007ef1dff4f8104226d18a)
- [https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7cb5f4643a7fcdbfbee1fad3cdfc678add62d378](https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7cb5f4643a7fcdbfbee1fad3cdfc678add62d378)
- [https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b824476c56a153934c67c9e0f873e1fd967743d6](https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b824476c56a153934c67c9e0f873e1fd967743d6)
- [https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b9d77f1652e79e58eac48430d0431c329137efcc](https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b9d77f1652e79e58eac48430d0431c329137efcc)

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## What this record can't tell you

- Whether you run the affected software, and where
- Whether an attacker can actually reach and exploit it
- The misconfigurations that never get a CVE number
- What it would cost the business, ranked into what to fix first

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