Bug 2541216 (CVE-2026-98089)

Summary:	CVE-2026-98089 kernel: bonding: alb: fix uninitialized transport header access in alb_determine_nd()
Product:	[Other] Security Response	Reporter:	OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component:	vulnerability	Assignee:	Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:
Severity:	medium	Docs Contact:
Priority:	medium
Version:	unspecified	CC:	akhatavk, aos-team-art-private, asdas, dpaolell, jdelft, jupierce, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, rhel-process-autobot, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone:	---	Keywords:	Security
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	---
Doc Text:	A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's network bonding driver. When transmitting or forwarding network packets in adaptive load balancing mode, the system fails to properly initialize header pointers before inspecting network traffic. An attacker transmitting packets through an affected interface can trigger an out-of-bounds memory read, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) caused by a kernel crash.	Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:		Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-09-25 11:03:30 UTC

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

bonding: alb: fix uninitialized transport header access in alb_determine_nd()

alb_determine_nd() uses icmp6_hdr(skb) to inspect ICMPv6 headers.
However, in xmit paths (e.g. packets sent via AF_PACKET / raw sockets
or forwarded packets), skb->transport_header is not guaranteed to be
initialized. While pskb_network_may_pull() ensures the packet data is
linear starting from the network header, it does not set or adjust the
transport header offset.

Dereferencing icmp6_hdr(skb) can therefore access out-of-bounds memory.

Fetch the icmp6hdr directly after ipv6hdr following pskb_network_may_pull(),
and reload ipv6hdr in case pskb_may_pull() reallocated skb->head.
Also remove the unused bond argument from alb_determine_nd().

Comment 1 Keith Grant 2026-09-25 18:08:31 UTC

Upstream advisory:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98089.mbox