Bug 2464358 (CVE-2026-31700)

Summary: CVE-2026-31700 kernel: net/packet: fix TOCTOU race on mmap'd vnet_hdr in tpacket_snd()
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. A Time-of-check to Time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition exists in the `tpacket_snd()` function when `PACKET_VNET_HDR` is enabled. A local user can exploit this by modifying the `vnet_hdr` fields in the mmap'd TX ring buffer between validation and use, thereby bypassing safety checks. This could allow a local attacker to achieve a security bypass.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-05-01 15:02:08 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net/packet: fix TOCTOU race on mmap'd vnet_hdr in tpacket_snd()

In tpacket_snd(), when PACKET_VNET_HDR is enabled, vnet_hdr points
directly into the mmap'd TX ring buffer shared with userspace. The
kernel validates the header via __packet_snd_vnet_parse() but then
re-reads all fields later in virtio_net_hdr_to_skb(). A concurrent
userspace thread can modify the vnet_hdr fields between validation
and use, bypassing all safety checks.

The non-TPACKET path (packet_snd()) already correctly copies vnet_hdr
to a stack-local variable. All other vnet_hdr consumers in the kernel
(tun.c, tap.c, virtio_net.c) also use stack copies. The TPACKET TX
path is the only caller of virtio_net_hdr_to_skb() that reads directly
from user-controlled shared memory.

Fix this by copying vnet_hdr from the mmap'd ring buffer to a
stack-local variable before validation and use, consistent with the
approach used in packet_snd() and all other callers.