Bug 2559770 (CVE-2026-99033)

Summary: CVE-2026-99033 kernel: net/packet: guard the ll header push in packet_rcv_spkt()
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. A local user with network privileges can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by causing a complete system crash. This issue occurs when a packet socket receives traffic on a network interface that lacks a link-layer header, such as a Controller Area Network (CAN) device. Because the kernel fails to verify that the device uses a link-layer header before adjusting packet buffers, it performs an invalid calculation that forces a fatal kernel panic.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-10-23 13:34:08 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net/packet: guard the ll header push in packet_rcv_spkt()

packet_rcv_spkt() restores the link layer header with

	skb_push(skb, skb->data - skb_mac_header(skb));

That subtraction is only meaningful when the device actually has a link
layer header.  packet_rcv() and tpacket_rcv() both wrap it in
dev_has_header(), which is also the predicate the block comment at the
top of the file states the restore in terms of; packet_rcv_spkt() does
not.  commit d549699048b4 ("net/packet: fix packet receive on L3
devices without visible hard header") introduced the helper and changed
the two call sites, and this one stayed behind.

A device without a visible ll header can leave skb->mac_header at the
0xFFFF sentinel that __alloc_skb() initialises it to.  A CAN skb does:
init_can_skb() sets pkt_type and ip_summed but does not reset the
headers, and commit 9f10374bb024 ("can: remove private CAN skb
headroom infrastructure") dropped the skb_reset_*_header() calls that
used to be there.  skb_mac_header() is then 0xFFFF, the length becomes
a large negative number and skb_push() reports it through
skb_under_panic() -- from softirq context, so it is a full system panic
even with panic_on_oops=0:

  skbuff: skb_under_panic: text:ffffffff8bd21bc1 len:-65455 put:-65471 head:... data:... tail:0x50 end:0x180 dev:can0
  kernel BUG at net/core/skbuff.c:214!
  RIP: 0010:skb_panic+0x50/0x60
  Call Trace:
   <IRQ>
   skb_push+0x38/0x40
   packet_rcv_spkt+0xe1/0x170
   __netif_receive_skb_core.constprop.0+0x7e8/0xd30
   ...
  Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt

The socket type is reachable: packet_create() accepts SOCK_PACKET
alongside SOCK_RAW and SOCK_DGRAM behind the same CAP_NET_RAW check,
and neither the socket length nor a capability check keeps it away
from a CAN interface.

The missing skb_reset_*_header() calls in init_can_skb() are a
regression in their own right and are being fixed separately, but a
packet socket should not turn a link layer that did not initialise its
mac header into a kernel panic.  Guard the push the way the other two
receive paths do.

Tested on v7.3-rc5 under QEMU with a slcan device on a pty, which is
the driver RX path: vcan does not reproduce it, because can_send()
resets the headers on the way out.  One SOCK_PACKET socket bound to
can0 and one frame written into the line discipline panics an
unpatched kernel with the trace above; the same image with this patch
prints no panic and powers off normally.  Both kernels are this tree,
defconfig plus CONFIG_CAN_SLCAN=y, differing only in this hunk.