GHSA-P44R-FF57-RWR9
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-10-06 09:31 – Updated: 2026-10-06 09:31In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: skbuff: do not leave stale header offsets after pskb_carve()
pskb_carve_inside_header() and pskb_carve_inside_nonlinear() remove the first bytes of a packet and reallocate skb->head.
All the headers that were present before the operation are gone, but both functions call skb_headers_offset_update(skb, 0), which is a no-op : skb->mac_header, skb->network_header, skb->transport_header and skb->csum_start keep their old values and now describe bytes which are no longer there.
Both helpers size the new head from the old skb_end_offset(), so the stale offsets still land inside the new allocation. They point past skb_tail_pointer() though, to bytes that were never initialized.
pskb_carve_inside_nonlinear() is the worst case, because it leaves a zombie skb with an empty linear part (skb->data == skb_tail_pointer(skb), skb_headlen(skb) == 0), while skb_mac_header_was_set() is still true and skb->mac_header is way ahead of skb->data.
The only user of pskb_extract() is rds_tcp_data_recv(), and the carved skb is queued on tinc->ti_skb_list. When the RDS incoming message is released, rds_tcp_inc_free() calls skb_queue_purge(), which frees the skbs with SKB_DROP_REASON_QUEUE_PURGE. This is visible from drop_monitor, which then tries to pull back to the (bogus) mac header :
skbuff: __skb_pull(len=234) skb len=6968 data_len=6968 headroom=0 headlen=0 tailroom=0 end-tail=384 mac=(234,14) mac_len=14 net=(248,40) trans=288 shinfo(txflags=0 nr_frags=1 gso(size=1428 type=16 segs=5)) csum(0x100120 start=288 offset=16 ip_summed=3 complete_sw=0 valid=1 level=0) hash(0x7b446c6c sw=0 l4=1) proto=0x86dd pkttype=0 iif=60 kernel BUG at ./include/linux/skbuff.h:2847!
Add skb_carve_reset_headers() to mark the mac and transport headers as not set, reset the network header, clear skb->mac_len, and drop a now meaningless CHECKSUM_PARTIAL (csum_start no longer describes anything).
Invalidate the inner offsets as well. Unlike mac_header and transport_header they have no "unset" sentinel, so a leftover non-zero value still looks like a real header. Zero skb->inner_mac_header, skb->inner_network_header, skb->inner_transport_header, skb->inner_protocol and skb->encapsulation, so that all the header state is invalidated in one place.
v2: fixed an inaccurate changelog. The stale offsets stay inside the new skb->head, which is never smaller than the old one, they simply point past skb_tail_pointer() to bytes that are gone. Thanks to Xuanqiang Luo for insisting on this. Also invalidate the inner header state, as suggested by the netdev AI review : https://netdev-ai.bots.linux.dev/sashiko/#/patchset/20260911114922.621937-1-edumazet%40google.com
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-98271"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-10-06T09:18:16Z",
"severity": null
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: skbuff: do not leave stale header offsets after pskb_carve()\n\npskb_carve_inside_header() and pskb_carve_inside_nonlinear() remove\nthe first bytes of a packet and reallocate skb-\u003ehead.\n\nAll the headers that were present before the operation are gone,\nbut both functions call skb_headers_offset_update(skb, 0), which\nis a no-op : skb-\u003emac_header, skb-\u003enetwork_header,\nskb-\u003etransport_header and skb-\u003ecsum_start keep their old values and\nnow describe bytes which are no longer there.\n\nBoth helpers size the new head from the old skb_end_offset(), so the\nstale offsets still land inside the new allocation. They point past\nskb_tail_pointer() though, to bytes that were never initialized.\n\npskb_carve_inside_nonlinear() is the worst case, because it leaves a\nzombie skb with an empty linear part (skb-\u003edata ==\nskb_tail_pointer(skb), skb_headlen(skb) == 0), while\nskb_mac_header_was_set() is still true and skb-\u003emac_header is way\nahead of skb-\u003edata.\n\nThe only user of pskb_extract() is rds_tcp_data_recv(), and the\ncarved skb is queued on tinc-\u003eti_skb_list. When the RDS incoming\nmessage is released, rds_tcp_inc_free() calls skb_queue_purge(),\nwhich frees the skbs with SKB_DROP_REASON_QUEUE_PURGE. This is\nvisible from drop_monitor, which then tries to pull back to the\n(bogus) mac header :\n\nskbuff: __skb_pull(len=234)\nskb len=6968 data_len=6968 headroom=0 headlen=0 tailroom=0\nend-tail=384 mac=(234,14) mac_len=14 net=(248,40) trans=288\nshinfo(txflags=0 nr_frags=1 gso(size=1428 type=16 segs=5))\ncsum(0x100120 start=288 offset=16 ip_summed=3 complete_sw=0 valid=1 level=0)\nhash(0x7b446c6c sw=0 l4=1) proto=0x86dd pkttype=0 iif=60\nkernel BUG at ./include/linux/skbuff.h:2847!\n\nAdd skb_carve_reset_headers() to mark the mac and transport headers\nas not set, reset the network header, clear skb-\u003emac_len, and drop\na now meaningless CHECKSUM_PARTIAL (csum_start no longer describes\nanything).\n\nInvalidate the inner offsets as well. Unlike mac_header and\ntransport_header they have no \"unset\" sentinel, so a leftover\nnon-zero value still looks like a real header. Zero\nskb-\u003einner_mac_header, skb-\u003einner_network_header,\nskb-\u003einner_transport_header, skb-\u003einner_protocol and\nskb-\u003eencapsulation, so that all the header state is invalidated in\none place.\n\nv2: fixed an inaccurate changelog. The stale offsets stay inside the\n new skb-\u003ehead, which is never smaller than the old one, they\n simply point past skb_tail_pointer() to bytes that are gone.\n Thanks to Xuanqiang Luo for insisting on this.\n Also invalidate the inner header state, as suggested by the\n netdev AI review :\n https://netdev-ai.bots.linux.dev/sashiko/#/patchset/20260911114922.621937-1-edumazet%40google.com",
"id": "GHSA-p44r-ff57-rwr9",
"modified": "2026-10-06T09:31:33Z",
"published": "2026-10-06T09:31:33Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98271"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/12929ed66a5166177ef5f06d3da81e4f99993e90"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75e4a3e62531738c124c8555a626426fca29d392"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a5117e1eccac6ee3bd4aed7cacf8ebcb6b3eb309"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bff8a8e53a6d290bc2777bde36d3cb6317b8463d"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": []
}
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