Bug 2546386 (CVE-2026-98299)

Summary: CVE-2026-98299 kernel: tcp: do not let tcp_rmem be set below 4096
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: 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   
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Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's TCP networking subsystem. A privileged local user can cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by configuring TCP receive buffer limits to an abnormally low value. This improper setting causes the kernel to encounter a division-by-zero error during buffer adjustment calculations when incoming network packets arrive, resulting in a system crash.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-10-06 09:11:11 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tcp: do not let tcp_rmem be set below 4096

We can hit a division by zero crash in tcp_rcvbuf_grow()
and tcp_rcv_space_adjust():

divide error: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
RIP: 0010:tcp_rcvbuf_grow+0x187/0x450 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:939
...
grow = div_u64(((u64)rcvwin << 1) * (newval - oldval), oldval);

The division uses oldval = tp->rcvq_space.space as divisor.
When tp->rcvq_space.space is zero, this leads to a divide-by-zero
exception.

tp->rcvq_space.space is initialized in tcp_init_buffer_space():
    tp->rcvq_space.space = min3(tp->rcv_ssthresh, tp->rcv_wnd,
                                (u32)TCP_INIT_CWND * tp->advmss);

If tcp_rmem[1] is configured to very small values (such as 1),
sk->sk_rcvbuf is initialized to 1. Then tcp_full_space(sk), which
computes (sk->sk_rcvbuf * scaling_ratio) >> 8, truncates to 0.
This sets tp->window_clamp = 0, tp->rcv_ssthresh = 0, and
tp->rcvq_space.space = 0. Later, when data arrives and DRS is invoked,
tcp_rcvbuf_grow() divides by oldval == 0.

Back in 2015, commit b1cb59cf2efe ("net: sysctl_net_core: check SNDBUF
and RCVBUF for min length") ensured that net.core.rmem_default and
net.core.rmem_max cannot be set below SOCK_MIN_RCVBUF. Similarly,
SO_RCVBUF setsockopt enforces max_t(int, val * 2, SOCK_MIN_RCVBUF).

However, net.ipv4.tcp_rmem still had .extra1 = SYSCTL_ONE, allowing
arbitrarily small values.

Because SOCK_MIN_RCVBUF depends on sizeof(struct sk_buff) and cacheline
alignment, its value varies across architectures and configuration options.
Using a fixed constant of 4096 ensures a predictable, architecture-
independent lower bound that is safely above SOCK_MIN_RCVBUF everywhere
and matches the documented 4K default.

Fix this by setting tcp_rmem.extra1 to 4096 and updating the documentation.