Bug 2562724 (CVE-2026-99123)

Summary: CVE-2026-99123 kernel: kernel: connection hijacking via missing packet source validation in virtio vsock
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 Virtual Sockets (vsock) virtio transport. Incoming packets for connecting sockets are not properly validated against their expected source address. A local, unprivileged attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted packets during connection setup to hijack the socket. Successful exploitation allows unauthorized data injection and disrupts communication between legitimate endpoints.
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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 2026-10-28 10:57:31 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

vsock/virtio: validate packet source for connected sockets

virtio_transport_recv_pkt() looks up sockets first by the full source and
destination tuple, then by destination only in the bound table. The
fallback is needed for listening and connecting sockets, but sockets remain
in the bound table after connect(), so it can also return a non-listening
socket.

The fallback does not validate the source address. In TCP_SYN_SENT, a
RESPONSE from an unrelated source can transition the victim socket to
TCP_ESTABLISHED while its stored remote address remains unchanged.
Subsequent RW packets from that source are delivered through the same
destination-only fallback.

This was reproduced with capability-empty processes under different UIDs.
The attacker discovered the target tuple through unprivileged AF_VSOCK
sock_diag and caused the victim socket to read 16 attacker-chosen bytes;
the intended peer-side socket read 0 of those 16 bytes.

Add vsock_check_source() to validate the transport, source port and source
CID against the peer stored in a non-listening socket. The local transport
is the CID exception because its packets are generated internally with
VMADDR_CID_LOCAL as their source, including connections using CID aliases.

Use the helper after lock_sock() in the virtio receive path.