CVE-2026-68136
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…
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.55%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
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().
- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 0.55% probability · 44th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Source
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
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
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.