Bug 2502330 (CVE-2026-63920)

Summary: CVE-2026-63920 kernel: ipv6: validate extension header length before copying to cmsg
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
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's IPv6 networking stack. An unprivileged local user could exploit a vulnerability in how IPv6 extension header lengths are handled. By manipulating these headers using nftables, an attacker can trigger an out-of-bounds read, leading to information disclosure from kernel memory.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-07-19 16:02:17 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ipv6: validate extension header length before copying to cmsg

ip6_datagram_recv_specific_ctl() builds IPV6_{HOPOPTS,DSTOPTS,RTHDR}
cmsgs (and their IPV6_2292* legacy counterparts) by trusting the
on-wire hdrlen byte (ptr[1]) when computing the put_cmsg() length.
The length was validated only at parse time (ipv6_parse_hopopts(),
etc.).  An nftables payload-write expression can rewrite hdrlen after
parsing and before the skb reaches recvmsg; the write itself is
in-bounds but put_cmsg() then reads up to ((hdrlen+1) << 3) = 2040
bytes from an 8-byte header.  nftables is reachable from an
unprivileged user namespace, so this is an unprivileged
slab-out-of-bounds read:

  BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in put_cmsg+0x3ac/0x540
   put_cmsg+0x3ac/0x540
   udpv6_recvmsg+0xca0/0x1250
   sock_recvmsg+0xdf/0x190
   ____sys_recvmsg+0x1b1/0x620

Add ipv6_get_exthdr_len() which validates that at least two bytes
are accessible before reading the hdrlen field, then checks the
computed length against skb_tail_pointer(skb), returning 0 on
failure.  Extension headers are kept in the linear skb area by
pskb_may_pull() during input, so skb_tail_pointer() is the correct
bound.

Use ipv6_get_exthdr_len() at all non-AH call sites: the five
standalone cmsg blocks (HbH, 2292HbH, 2292DSTOPTS x2, 2292RTHDR)
and the three standard cases in the extension-header walk loop
(DSTOPTS, ROUTING, default).  AH retains an inline bounds check
because its length formula differs ((ptr[1]+2)<<2).

The walk loop also gets a pre-read bounds check at the top to
validate ptr before any case accesses ptr[0] or ptr[1].

When the walk loop detects a corrupted header, return from the
function instead of continuing to process later socket options.