Bug 2467203 (CVE-2026-43244)

Summary: CVE-2026-43244 kernel: kcm: fix zero-frag skb in frag_list on partial sendmsg error
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
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Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Kernel Connection Multiplexer (KCM) module. A local user could trigger an issue where, during partial sendmsg operations, an empty network buffer (skb) is incorrectly left in the frag_list. A subsequent zero-length write operation can then cause a kernel warning, potentially leading to a denial of service (DoS) by causing system instability.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-05-06 13:10:41 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

kcm: fix zero-frag skb in frag_list on partial sendmsg error

Syzkaller reported a warning in kcm_write_msgs() when processing a
message with a zero-fragment skb in the frag_list.

When kcm_sendmsg() fills MAX_SKB_FRAGS fragments in the current skb,
it allocates a new skb (tskb) and links it into the frag_list before
copying data. If the copy subsequently fails (e.g. -EFAULT from
user memory), tskb remains in the frag_list with zero fragments:

  head skb (msg being assembled, NOT yet in sk_write_queue)
  +-----------+
  | frags[17] |  (MAX_SKB_FRAGS, all filled with data)
  | frag_list-+--> tskb
  +-----------+    +----------+
                   | frags[0] |  (empty! copy failed before filling)
                   +----------+

For SOCK_SEQPACKET with partial data already copied, the error path
saves this message via partial_message for later completion. For
SOCK_SEQPACKET, sock_write_iter() automatically sets MSG_EOR, so a
subsequent zero-length write(fd, NULL, 0) completes the message and
queues it to sk_write_queue. kcm_write_msgs() then walks the
frag_list and hits:

  WARN_ON(!skb_shinfo(skb)->nr_frags)

TCP has a similar pattern where skbs are enqueued before data copy
and cleaned up on failure via tcp_remove_empty_skb(). KCM was
missing the equivalent cleanup.

Fix this by tracking the predecessor skb (frag_prev) when allocating
a new frag_list entry. On error, if the tail skb has zero frags,
use frag_prev to unlink and free it in O(1) without walking the
singly-linked frag_list. frag_prev is safe to dereference because
the entire message chain is only held locally (or in kcm->seq_skb)
and is not added to sk_write_queue until MSG_EOR, so the send path
cannot free it underneath us.

Also change the WARN_ON to WARN_ON_ONCE to avoid flooding the log
if the condition is somehow hit repeatedly.

There are currently no KCM selftests in the kernel tree; a simple
reproducer is available at [1].

[1] https://gist.github.com/mrpre/a94d431c757e8d6f168f4dd1a3749daa