Bug 2554861 (CVE-2026-98485)

Summary: CVE-2026-98485 kernel: netfilter: ip6t_rt: fix zero-address non-strict match out-of-bounds read
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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Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's netfilter subsystem. This flaw allows a remote attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by sending specially crafted IPv6 packets to an affected system. The issue occurs when an IPv6 routing header match rule is configured with zero addresses, causing the packet inspection loop to bypass its termination condition. Consequently, processing matching packets triggers an out-of-bounds memory read, leading to a kernel crash.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-10-18 15:23:44 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: ip6t_rt: fix zero-address non-strict match out-of-bounds read

rt_mt6_check() permits rules to be configured with rtinfo->addrnr == 0
even when address matching (IP6T_RT_FST_MASK) is requested.

In the IP6T_RT_FST_NSTRICT path, rt_mt6() evaluates packet routing
addresses against rtinfo->addrs[i] and terminates backwards at the bottom
of the loop:

    if (ipv6_addr_equal(ap, &rtinfo->addrs[i])) {
        i++;
    }
    if (i == rtinfo->addrnr)
        break;

When addrnr is 0, if the first packet address matches rtinfo->addrs[0],
i is incremented to 1. Because i is now strictly greater than addrnr (0),
the loop termination condition (i == rtinfo->addrnr) is bypassed and will
never be satisfied.

If a crafted IPv6 packet contains matching routing addresses, i will
advance past IP6T_RT_HOPS (16). The subsequent call to ipv6_addr_equal()
reads beyond struct ip6t_rt, triggering UBSAN/KASAN out-of-bounds warnings
or kernel panics.

Fix this by:
1. Rejecting rules in rt_mt6_check() where IP6T_RT_FST_MASK is set but
   rtinfo->addrnr is zero.
2. In rt_mt6(), moving the termination condition (i < rtinfo->addrnr)
   into the for-loop header condition and removing the backwards break
   at the end of the loop body.