Bug 2492091 (CVE-2026-52942)

Summary: CVE-2026-52942 kernel: netfilter: nf_log: validate MAC header was set before dumping it
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: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's netfilter logging component. This vulnerability occurs because the system does not properly check if a network packet's Media Access Control (MAC) header is valid before attempting to log it. A local attacker could send a specially crafted network packet, leading to an out-of-bounds read. This could result in the disclosure of sensitive information from kernel memory or cause a system crash, leading to a denial of service.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-06-24 08:01:30 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: nf_log: validate MAC header was set before dumping it

The fallback path of dump_mac_header() guards the MAC header access
only with "skb->mac_header != skb->network_header", without checking
skb_mac_header_was_set(). When the MAC header is unset, mac_header is
0xffff, so the test passes and skb_mac_header(skb) returns
skb->head + 0xffff, ~64 KiB past the buffer; the loop then reads
dev->hard_header_len bytes out of bounds into the kernel log.

This is reachable via the netdev logger: nf_log_unknown_packet() calls
dump_mac_header() unconditionally, and an skb sent through AF_PACKET
with PACKET_QDISC_BYPASS reaches the egress hook with mac_header still
unset (__dev_queue_xmit(), which would reset it, is bypassed).

Add the skb_mac_header_was_set() check the ARPHRD_ETHER path already
uses, and replace the open-coded MAC header length test with
skb_mac_header_len(). Only skbs with an unset MAC header are affected;
valid ones are dumped as before.

 BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in dump_mac_header (net/netfilter/nf_log_syslog.c:831)
 Read of size 1 at addr ffff88800ea49d3f by task exploit/148
 Call Trace:
  kasan_report (mm/kasan/report.c:595)
  dump_mac_header (net/netfilter/nf_log_syslog.c:831)
  nf_log_netdev_packet (net/netfilter/nf_log_syslog.c:938 net/netfilter/nf_log_syslog.c:963)
  nf_log_packet (net/netfilter/nf_log.c:260)
  nft_log_eval (net/netfilter/nft_log.c:60)
  nft_do_chain (net/netfilter/nf_tables_core.c:285)
  nft_do_chain_netdev (net/netfilter/nft_chain_filter.c:307)
  nf_hook_slow (net/netfilter/core.c:619)
  nf_hook_direct_egress (net/packet/af_packet.c:257)
  packet_xmit (net/packet/af_packet.c:280)
  packet_sendmsg (net/packet/af_packet.c:3114)
  __sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2265)

Comment 1 Mauro Matteo Cascella 2026-06-24 09:19:10 UTC
Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026062435-CVE-2026-52942-2530@gregkh/T

Comment 3 errata-xmlrpc 2026-09-10 05:18:33 UTC
This issue has been addressed in the following products:

  Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

Via RHSA-2026:66324 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:66324

Comment 4 errata-xmlrpc 2026-09-10 05:39:53 UTC
This issue has been addressed in the following products:

  Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

Via RHSA-2026:66325 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:66325