{"id":"CVE-2026-74264","title":"kernel: net: watchdog: fix refcount tracking races (CVE-2026-74264)","summary":"A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's network watchdog component. A race condition in the reference count tracking mechanism, specifically between netdev_watchdog_up() and dev_watchdog(), allows for concurrent overwriting or freeing of re…","severity":"medium","cvss":4.7,"cvssVector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","cvssSource":"vendor","cwe":"CWE-825","vendor":"Red Hat","product":"Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9","affected":["enterprise_linux 10","enterprise_linux 6","enterprise_linux 9"],"published":"2026-08-15","updated":"2026-10-26","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-26T07:47:42+00:00","source":"CSAF","sourceUrl":"https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-74264.json","references":[{"url":"https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-74264.json"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-74264"},{"url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2516832"},{"url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74264"},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74264"},{"url":"https://kernelcve.org/list/?q=CVE-2026-74264"},{"url":"https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026081543-CVE-2026-74264-e6bb@gregkh/T"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2fc2c92320272a99e18bbb102252859b6ee50881"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6b2330facc90e43b6d7171a0ac12c23dfcbdc30d"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/446fe8ce699ce0a4d702f7b0fcdb50de340b9260"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ce2b00ff058ec4cafc9b447e1f0a6d6f49275d9"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8eed5519e496b7a07f441a0f579cb228a33189f7"}],"tags":["csaf","vex","red-hat","cve.org","score-dispute"],"epss":0.00175,"epssPercentile":0.06973,"ssvc":{"exploitation":"none","automatable":"no","technicalImpact":"total","timestamp":"2026-10-16T18:51:40.430593Z"},"scores":{"vendor":4.7,"cna":7.8},"ingestedAt":"2026-10-16T19:46:24.387Z","slug":"CVE-2026-74264","body":"## Overview\n\nA flaw was found in the Linux kernel's network watchdog component. A race condition in the reference count tracking mechanism, specifically between netdev_watchdog_up() and dev_watchdog(), allows for concurrent overwriting or freeing of reference tracking information. This can lead to list corruption and a kernel crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) for the affected system.\n\n## Vendor advisories\n\n- **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 · updated 2026-10-26 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-74264.json)\n\n**kernel: net: watchdog: fix refcount tracking races** — rated Moderate by Red Hat. Released 2026-08-15, updated 2026-10-26.\n\nAffected:\n\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9\n\nNo fix planned:\n\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9\n\nNot affected:\n\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7\n- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8\n\n## Remediation\n\nOut of support scope","depth":"sunlit","depthScore":26,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":25.9,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[{"seq":229368,"id":"CVE-2026-74264","ts":1793019719977,"field":"cvss","old":"7.8","new":"4.7"},{"seq":229367,"id":"CVE-2026-74264","ts":1793019719977,"field":"severity","old":"high","new":"medium"}]}