Bug 2454835 (CVE-2026-23439)

Summary: CVE-2026-23439 kernel: udp_tunnel: fix NULL deref caused by udp_sock_create6 when CONFIG_IPV6=n
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
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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. A privileged local user can exploit a vulnerability in the `udp_tunnel` module when IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) is disabled. This occurs because the `udp_sock_create6()` function incorrectly returns success without creating a socket, leading to a NULL pointer dereference. This can cause the system to crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-04-03 16:03:22 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

udp_tunnel: fix NULL deref caused by udp_sock_create6 when CONFIG_IPV6=n

When CONFIG_IPV6 is disabled, the udp_sock_create6() function returns 0
(success) without actually creating a socket. Callers such as
fou_create() then proceed to dereference the uninitialized socket
pointer, resulting in a NULL pointer dereference.

The captured NULL deref crash:
  BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000018
  RIP: 0010:fou_nl_add_doit (net/ipv4/fou_core.c:590 net/ipv4/fou_core.c:764)
  [...]
  Call Trace:
    <TASK>
    genl_family_rcv_msg_doit.constprop.0 (net/netlink/genetlink.c:1114)
    genl_rcv_msg (net/netlink/genetlink.c:1194 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1209)
    [...]
    netlink_rcv_skb (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2550)
    genl_rcv (net/netlink/genetlink.c:1219)
    netlink_unicast (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1319 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1344)
    netlink_sendmsg (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1894)
    __sock_sendmsg (net/socket.c:727 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:742 (discriminator 1))
    __sys_sendto (./include/linux/file.h:62 (discriminator 1) ./include/linux/file.h:83 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:2183 (discriminator 1))
    __x64_sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2213 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:2209 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:2209 (discriminator 1))
    do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 (discriminator 1) arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 (discriminator 1))
    entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (net/arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:130)

This patch makes udp_sock_create6 return -EPFNOSUPPORT instead, so
callers correctly take their error paths. There is only one caller of
the vulnerable function and only privileged users can trigger it.