net: gro: fix double aggregation of flush-marked skbs
Published Aug 10, 2026
9.8
CRITICALCVSS 3.1
EPSS 0.54%
Description
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().
Affected products
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- Version 5.6StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version 0StatusunaffectedConstraints<5.6
- Version 5.10.266StatusunaffectedConstraints<=5.10.*
- Version 6.1.184StatusunaffectedConstraints<=6.1.*
- Version 6.12.101StatusunaffectedConstraints<=6.12.*
- Version 6.18.42StatusunaffectedConstraints<=6.18.*
- Version 6.6.153StatusunaffectedConstraints<=6.6.*
- Version 7.1.6StatusunaffectedConstraints<=7.1.*
- Version 7.2StatusunaffectedConstraints<=*
- Version
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
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| Linux | Linux | affected |
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No data.
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
kernel
Affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
kernel
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
kernel
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
kernel-rt
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
kernel
Affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
kernel-rt
Affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
kernel
Affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
kernel-rt
Affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | kernel | Affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | kernel | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | kernel | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | kernel-rt | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | kernel | Affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | kernel-rt | Affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | kernel | Affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | kernel-rt | Affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
References (12)
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-68136 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2513163 Issue Tracking
- 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
- https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026081059-CVE-2026-68136-f3b7@gregkh/T
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68136
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68136
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.