Bug 2546496 (CVE-2026-98240)

Summary: CVE-2026-98240 kernel: net: ip_tunnel: initialize `options_len` before referencing options
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: low Docs Contact:
Priority: low    
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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Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's IP tunnel subsystem. When processing network routes with encapsulation options, the subsystem references tunnel options before their length is initialized. A local user with network configuration privileges can exploit this flaw by adding routes with specific tunnel options, triggering a kernel panic and causing a Denial of Service (DoS).
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-10-06 09:33:19 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: ip_tunnel: initialize `options_len` before referencing options

The following command triggers a kernel panic:

  ip link add d0 type dummy; ip link set d0 up
  ip route add 10.30.0.0/16 \
    encap ip id 300 geneve_opts 4660:66:11223344 dev d0

  memcpy: detected buffer overflow: 4 byte write of buffer size 0
  kernel BUG at lib/string_helpers.c:1044!
  ...
  ip_tun_parse_opts.part.0.cold+0x10/0x10
  ip_tun_build_state+0x116/0x2a0

On kernels built with GCC 15+ and `CONFIG_FORTIFY_SOURCE`, the fortified
`memcpy()` got 0 sized destination with request of 4 bytes length:

  static int ip_tun_parse_opts_geneve(...)
  {
      ...
      attr = tb[LWTUNNEL_IP_OPT_GENEVE_DATA];
      data_len = nla_len(attr); /* == 4 */

      struct geneve_opt *opt = ip_tunnel_info_opts(info) + opts_len;
      memcpy(opt->opt_data, nla_data(attr), data_len);
      /*     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 0 since options_len is assigned afterwards */

Fixed by initializing the counter before the options are referenced.
Matching what `tunnel_key_opts_set()` already does.