KernelScan.io

HIGH

net/skbuff SharedFrag Bypass

CVE-2026-43503

CVSS 8.8 / 10.0 NVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

KernelScan AI7.8HIGH

01

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: skbuff: propagate shared-frag marker through frag-transfer helpers Two frag-transfer helpers (__pskb_copy_fclone() and skb_shift()) fail to propagate the SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG bit in skb_shinfo()->flags when moving frags from source to destination. __pskb_copy_fclone() defers the rest of the shinfo metadata to skb_copy_header() after copying frag descriptors, but that helper only carries over gso_{size,segs, type} and never touches skb_shinfo()->flags; skb_shift() moves frag descriptors directly and leaves flags untouched. As a result, the destination skb keeps a reference to the same externally-owned or page-cache-backed pages while reporting skb_has_shared_frag() as false. The mismatch is harmful in any in-place writer that uses skb_has_shared_frag() to decide whether shared pages must be detoured through skb_cow_data(). ESP input is one such writer (esp4.c, esp6.c), and a single nft 'dup to <local>' rule -- or any other nf_dup_ipv4() / xt_TEE caller -- is enough to land a pskb_copy()'d skb in esp_input() with the marker stripped, letting an unprivileged user write into the page cache of a root-owned read-only file via authencesn-ESN stray writes. Set SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG on the destination whenever frag descriptors were actually moved from the source. skb_copy() and skb_copy_expand() share skb_copy_header() too but linearize all paged data into freshly allocated head storage and emerge with nr_frags == 0, so skb_has_shared_frag() returns false on its own; they need no change. The same omission exists in skb_gro_receive() and skb_gro_receive_list(). The former moves the incoming skb's frag descriptors into the accumulator's last sub-skb via two paths (a direct frag-move loop and the head_frag + memcpy path); the latter chains the incoming skb whole onto p's frag_list. Downstream skb_segment() reads only skb_shinfo(p)->flags, and skb_segment_list() reuses each sub-skb's shinfo as the nskb -- both p and lp must carry the marker. The same omission also exists in tcp_clone_payload(), which builds an MTU probe skb by moving frag descriptors from skbs on sk_write_queue into a freshly allocated nskb. The helper falls into the same family and warrants the same fix for consistency; no TCP TX-side in-place writer is currently known to reach a user page through this gap, but a future consumer depending on the marker would regress silently. The same omission exists in skb_segment(): the per-iteration flag merge takes only head_skb's flag, and the inner switch that rebinds frag_skb to list_skb on head_skb-frags exhaustion does not fold the new frag_skb's flag into nskb. Fold frag_skb's flag at both sites so segments drawing frags from frag_list members carry the marker.

02

Engine v0.2.0

Risk summary

Local users can write to read-only files owned by root through ESP packet processing. The vulnerability allows bypassing shared fragment protection in network packet handling, enabling unauthorized modification of page cache contents. Systems processing ESP/IPsec traffic with netfilter packet duplication rules are at highest risk.

Affectednet/core/skbuff.c (networking core)

Vulnerability analysis

The root cause is that several skb fragment transfer functions (__pskb_copy_fclone, skb_shift, skb_gro_receive, etc.) fail to propagate the SKBFL_SHARED_FRAG marker when moving fragment descriptors between socket buffers. This marker indicates that fragments reference externally-owned or page-cache-backed pages that should not be modified in-place. When ESP input processing receives a packet with shared fragments but without the marker, it bypasses skb_cow_data() protection and performs in-place decryption directly into shared pages. The fix adds proper flag propagation in all fragment transfer helpers to ensure the shared fragment marker is preserved. Attack surface is local, requiring the ability to trigger netfilter packet duplication (nft dup rules or xt_TEE) combined with ESP/IPsec processing.

03

BranchFixed inPatch commit
5.105.10.257fbeab9555564
5.155.15.208179f1852bded
6.16.1.17412401fcfb01f
6.126.12.91fc6eb39c55e9
6.186.18.33ff375cc75f91
6.66.6.141989214c66884
7.07.0.109bc9d6d6967a
mainline7.1-rc548f6a5356a33