Bug 2439843 (CVE-2026-23124)

Summary: CVE-2026-23124 kernel: Linux kernel: Data race in IPv6 neighbor discovery leads to limited availability
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's IPv6 neighbor discovery component. A remote attacker on an adjacent network can exploit a data race in the `ndisc_router_discovery` function by sending specially crafted Internet Control Message Protocol version 6 (ICMPv6) Router Advertisement (RA) messages. This allows for inconsistent updates to the `ra_mtu` value, leading to transient or incorrect Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) state and spurious interface information notifications. The primary impact is limited availability of the affected system.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-02-14 16:01:20 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ipv6: annotate data-race in ndisc_router_discovery()

syzbot found that ndisc_router_discovery() could read and write
in6_dev->ra_mtu without holding a lock [1]

This looks fine, IFLA_INET6_RA_MTU is best effort.

Add READ_ONCE()/WRITE_ONCE() to document the race.

Note that we might also reject illegal MTU values
(mtu < IPV6_MIN_MTU || mtu > skb->dev->mtu) in a future patch.

[1]
BUG: KCSAN: data-race in ndisc_router_discovery / ndisc_router_discovery

read to 0xffff888119809c20 of 4 bytes by task 25817 on cpu 1:
  ndisc_router_discovery+0x151d/0x1c90 net/ipv6/ndisc.c:1558
  ndisc_rcv+0x2ad/0x3d0 net/ipv6/ndisc.c:1841
  icmpv6_rcv+0xe5a/0x12f0 net/ipv6/icmp.c:989
  ip6_protocol_deliver_rcu+0xb2a/0x10d0 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:438
  ip6_input_finish+0xf0/0x1d0 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:489
  NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:318 [inline]
  ip6_input+0x5e/0x140 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:500
  ip6_mc_input+0x27c/0x470 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:590
  dst_input include/net/dst.h:474 [inline]
  ip6_rcv_finish+0x336/0x340 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:79
...

write to 0xffff888119809c20 of 4 bytes by task 25816 on cpu 0:
  ndisc_router_discovery+0x155a/0x1c90 net/ipv6/ndisc.c:1559
  ndisc_rcv+0x2ad/0x3d0 net/ipv6/ndisc.c:1841
  icmpv6_rcv+0xe5a/0x12f0 net/ipv6/icmp.c:989
  ip6_protocol_deliver_rcu+0xb2a/0x10d0 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:438
  ip6_input_finish+0xf0/0x1d0 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:489
  NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:318 [inline]
  ip6_input+0x5e/0x140 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:500
  ip6_mc_input+0x27c/0x470 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:590
  dst_input include/net/dst.h:474 [inline]
  ip6_rcv_finish+0x336/0x340 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:79
...

value changed: 0x00000000 -> 0xe5400659