Bug 2484451 (CVE-2026-46244)

Summary: CVE-2026-46244 kernel: netfilter: nft_inner: Fix IPv6 inner_thoff desync
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: high Docs Contact:
Priority: high    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's netfilter subsystem, specifically within the nft_inner module. This vulnerability arises from an incorrect handling of IPv6 inner packet processing, where the transport header offset (inner_thoff) becomes desynchronized from the Layer 4 protocol (l4proto). A remote attacker could exploit this desynchronization to perform transport header forgery, potentially leading to a firewall bypass and allowing unauthorized network access.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-06-03 18:02:06 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: nft_inner: Fix IPv6 inner_thoff desync

In nft_inner_parse_l2l3(), when processing inner IPv6 packets,
ipv6_find_hdr() correctly computes the transport header offset
traversing all extension headers, but the result is immediately
overwritten with nhoff + sizeof(_ip6h) (40 bytes), which only
accounts for the IPv6 base header. This creates a desync between
inner_thoff (wrong — points to extension header start) and l4proto
(correct — e.g., IPPROTO_TCP), enabling transport header forgery
and potential firewall bypass. This issue affects stable versions
from Linux 6.2.

For comparison, the normal (non-inner) IPv6 path correctly
preserves ipv6_find_hdr()'s result. Removing the incorrect overwrite
ensures that ipv6_find_hdr()'s calculated transport header offset is
preserved, thereby fixing the desynchronization.