Bug 2516473 (CVE-2026-72111) - CVE-2026-72111 kernel: bpf: Reset register bounds before narrowing retval range in check_mem_access()
Summary: CVE-2026-72111 kernel: bpf: Reset register bounds before narrowing retval ran...
Keywords:
Status: NEW
Alias: CVE-2026-72111
Product: Security Response
Classification: Other
Component: vulnerability
Version: unspecified
Hardware: All
OS: Linux
medium
medium
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Product Security DevOps Team
QA Contact:
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2026-08-15 06:14 UTC by OSIDB Bzimport
Modified: 2026-08-17 22:20 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Clone Of:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-15 06:14:23 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

bpf: Reset register bounds before narrowing retval range in check_mem_access()

When the BPF verifier processes a context load of an LSM hook return
value, it calls __mark_reg_s32_range() to narrow the register to the
hook's valid range. However, __mark_reg_s32_range() intersects the new
range with the register's existing bounds using max_t()/min_t() rather
than replacing them.

If the destination register carries stale bounds from a prior instruction
(e.g. BPF_MOV64_IMM), the intersection can produce a range narrower than
reality. The verifier then believes it knows the register's exact value,
while at runtime the actual hook return value is loaded, creating a
verifier/runtime mismatch that can be used to bypass BPF memory safety
checks.

The else branch already calls mark_reg_unknown() to reset register state
before any narrowing. Apply the same reset in the is_retval path so
stale bounds are cleared before __mark_reg_s32_range() intersects.


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