High-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel identified

Researchers have identified a high-severity vulnerability in the Linux kernel that allows untrusted users to escalate their privileges to root. This vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-23111, is located in the nf_tables subsystem, which is responsible for packet filtering and managing firewall rules. The issue arises from a single erroneous character in the code, specifically a mis-issued exclamation point, which leads to a use-after-free vulnerability. This flaw can be exploited by unprivileged users or processes to gain root access to the system.