Bug 2559674 (CVE-2026-98929)

Summary:	CVE-2026-98929 kernel: macsec: initialize SecY before registering the netdevice
Product:	[Other] Security Response	Reporter:	OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component:	vulnerability	Assignee:	Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:
Severity:	low	Docs Contact:
Priority:	low
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 Media Access Control Security (MACsec) subsystem. When creating a MACsec network interface configured with hardware offload over a device supporting Large Receive Offload (LRO), the kernel registers the interface before its internal security entity (SecY) is initialized. A local user with network administration privileges can exploit this flaw to trigger a kernel warning, potentially leading to a denial of service (DoS) or the disclosure of uninitialized device attributes.	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 2026-10-23 12:59:08 UTC

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

macsec: initialize SecY before registering the netdevice

Creating a MACsec device with MAC offload over an LRO-capable lower
device triggers a warning in rtmsg_ifinfo_build_skb() when IPv4
forwarding is enabled by default.

register_netdevice() invokes inetdev_init(), which disables LRO and emits
a NETDEV_FEAT_CHANGE notification. This reaches macsec_fill_info() before
macsec_add_dev() initializes the SecY. key_len is still zero, so
macsec_fill_info() returns -EMSGSIZE and trips the WARN_ON in
rtmsg_ifinfo_build_skb(), even though the skb has enough space.

Even without the warning, notifications during registration can report
uninitialized SecY attributes, including the SCI. This ordering has existed
since the driver was introduced.

Initialize the SecY and apply the new-link attributes before registration.
Move MAC address inheritance into macsec_newlink() so the SCI can also be
initialized before registration-time notifications report it. Move the
per-CPU statistics and metadata destination allocation into ndo_init(),
and release partial allocations on failure.