CVE-2026-68136
Published: August 12, 2026Last modified: August 14, 2026
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: gro: fix double aggregation of flush-marked skbs Commit 0ab03f353d36 ("net-gro: Fix GRO flush when receiving a GSO packet.") added a flush check to skb_gro_receive(), but skb_gro_receive_list() lacks the same validation. As a result, packets marked with NAPI_GRO_CB(skb)->flush may still be re-aggregated. This allows already-GRO'd packets with existing frag_list to be re-aggregated into a new GRO session, corrupting the frag_list chain structure. When skb_segment() attempts to unpack these malformed packets, it encounters invalid state and triggers a kernel panic. Scenario (Tethering/Device forwarding): 1. Driver: Generated aggregated packet P1 via LRO with frag_list 2. Dev A: Receives aggregated fraglist packet and flush flag set 3. Dev A: Re-enters GRO, skb_gro_receive_list() is called 4. Missing flush check allows re-aggregation despite flush flag 5. Frag_list chain becomes corrupted (loops or dangling refs) 6. Dev B: TX path calls skb_segment(), crashes on corrupted frag_list Root cause in skb_segment(): The check at line ~4891: if (hsize <= 0 && i >= nfrags && skb_headlen(list_skb) && (skb_headlen(list_skb) == len || sg)) { When frag_list is corrupted by double aggregation, when list_skb is a NULL pointer from skb->next, skb_headlen(list_skb) dereference NULL/corrupted pointers occurs. Call Trace: skb_headlen(NULL skb) skb_segment tcp_gso_segment tcp4_gso_segment inet_gso_segment skb_mac_gso_segment __skb_gso_segment skb_gso_segment validate_xmit_skb validate_xmit_skb_list sch_direct_xmit qdisc_restart __qdisc_run qdisc_run net_tx_action Fix: Add NAPI_GRO_CB(skb)->flush validation to the early-return check in skb_gro_receive_list(), matching the defensive programming pattern of skb_gro_receive().
Severity score breakdown
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Base score | 9.8 |
| Attack Vector | NETWORK |
| Attack complexity | LOW |
| Privileges required | NONE |
| User interaction | NONE |
| Scope | UNCHANGED |
| Confidentiality | HIGH |
| Integrity impact | HIGH |
| Availability impact | HIGH |
| Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
Status
| Product | Release | Package | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpaquita Linux | 23 LTS | linux-lts | Vulnerable (6.1.177-r0) |
| 25 LTS | linux-lts | Fixed (6.12.103-r0) | |
| Stream | linux-lts | Fixed (6.18.43-r0) |
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/107e1a469f53a2a70874f3f12bf6fcd23925da1d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7fc7e35212cf58c134310fb47566a844297ceae9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a4dfd46cc8f08a29c6183794790547d0945f3d45
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d1fb23f8f794ac4683127bd49a6422bd87e0ac02
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db3e82da616f52e2b27e25e7be3fde2f2a5e54d6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e751256486d0ded20f5a9f9863467f1dce65142f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fc0c0f7a207f0cd2d2aa725696c907f7d03af9e0