Bug 2492421 (CVE-2026-52981)

Summary: CVE-2026-52981 kernel: neigh: let neigh_xmit take skb ownership
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
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. The `neigh_xmit` function, when called with an uninitialized neighbor table (such as `NEIGH_ND_TABLE` when IPv6 is disabled), can return an error without properly releasing the allocated `skb` (socket buffer). This can lead to a memory leak, potentially impacting system stability and resource availability.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-06-24 18:11:20 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

neigh: let neigh_xmit take skb ownership

neigh_xmit always releases the skb, except when no neighbour table is
found. But even the first added user of neigh_xmit (mpls) relied on
neigh_xmit to release the skb (or queue it for tx).

sashiko reported:
 If neigh_xmit() is called with an uninitialized neighbor table (for
 example, NEIGH_ND_TABLE when IPv6 is disabled), it returns -EAFNOSUPPORT
 and bypasses its internal out_kfree_skb error path.  Because the return
 value of neigh_xmit() is ignored here, does this leak the SKB?

Assume full ownership and remove the last code path that doesn't
xmit or free skb.

Comment 1 Mauro Matteo Cascella 2026-06-26 12:02:51 UTC
Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026062441-CVE-2026-52981-dce5@gregkh/T