HIGH
af_packet TransportHeader Panic
CVE-2026-80906
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: packet: fix wrong transport_header when sending VLAN-tagged frame In packet_parse_headers(), when processing a VLAN-tagged frame, skb_set_network_header() is called to advance network_header past the VLAN tag to the inner protocol header. skb_probe_transport_header() is then called with skb->protocol still set to the outer VLAN EtherType (e.g. ETH_P_8021Q), while nhoff (derived from skb_network_offset()) already points past the VLAN tag to the inner protocol header. In __skb_flow_dissect(), proto is initialized to ETH_P_8021Q and nhoff points past the VLAN tag. When the dissector hits case ETH_P_8021Q, it reads a struct vlan_hdr at nhoff via __skb_header_pointer(), but that offset contains the inner protocol header (e.g. an IP header). The bytes are misinterpreted as a VLAN header, yielding a garbage encapsulated EtherType that matches no known protocol. The dissector returns false, so skb_probe_transport_header() never calls skb_set_transport_header(), leaving transport_header at its uninitialized sentinel value (~0U). Move skb_probe_transport_header() to before skb_set_network_header(). At the time skb_probe_transport_header() is called, network_header still points to the VLAN header, so nhoff correctly points to the VLAN header. The flow dissector can then parse the VLAN header, extract the inner EtherType, and advance nhoff to the inner protocol header, allowing transport_header to be set correctly.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A local user who can create an AF_PACKET raw socket (CAP_NET_RAW, obtainable via user namespaces) can trigger a kernel panic or repeated packet-processing failure by sending a VLAN-tagged GSO frame. The transport header is left at an invalid sentinel offset, causing out-of-bounds access during segmentation. Products that allow untrusted local code or container workloads with user namespaces are most exposed.
Vulnerability analysis
When sending a VLAN-tagged network frame through a raw packet socket with hardware segmentation offloading enabled, the kernel advances the network header past the VLAN tag before determining where the transport header starts. The flow dissector then receives mismatched information — it still expects to parse a VLAN header, but the offset it is given already points to the inner protocol data. It misreads the inner header as VLAN metadata, fails to identify the real protocol, and never records the transport header location. The transport header is left at its default invalid sentinel value, and the subsequent segmentation step uses this bogus offset, which can cause a kernel panic or repeated packet-processing failure. The fix swaps the order of these two steps so the transport header is located while the network header still points to the VLAN tag, allowing the dissector to correctly parse the encapsulation before the inner header is reached. Any local user who can create a raw packet socket can trigger this; on most configurations that capability is available inside an unprivileged user namespace.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.10 | 5.10.163 | 5.10.266 | a4b82de96d46 |
| 5.4 | 5.4.229 | 5.5 | 5479eb9b355f |
| 6.6 | — | 6.6.153 | 6971cf319263 |
| 6.12 | — | 6.12.105 | f9297abbcaba |
| 6.18 | — | 6.18.46 | 6386a6ffa2ef |
| 7.1 | — | 7.1.10 | 01fdecc0480d |
| mainline | — | 7.2 | — |
| 6.1 | — | 6.1.184 | e451e20adb86 |
| 5.15 | 5.15.87 | 5.15.217 | fa86bc52ea8b |
| cip/5.10 | — | 5.10.268-cip77 | a4b82de96d46 |
| cip/5.10-rt | — | 5.10.268-cip77-rt34 | a4b82de96d46 |
| cip/6.1 | — | 6.1.187-cip60 | 5479eb9b355f |
| cip/6.12 | — | 6.12.108-cip31 | 6971cf319263 |