Bug 2546410 (CVE-2026-98369) - CVE-2026-98369 kernel: xfrm: add missing rcu_read_lock(), skb_dst_force() and dev_hold() for xfrm_trans_reinject()
Summary: CVE-2026-98369 kernel: xfrm: add missing rcu_read_lock(), skb_dst_force() and...
Keywords:
Status: NEW
Alias: CVE-2026-98369
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: 2026-10-06 09:16 UTC by OSIDB Bzimport
Modified: 2026-10-08 12:59 UTC (History)
17 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed:
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-10-06 09:16:39 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

xfrm: add missing rcu_read_lock(), skb_dst_force() and dev_hold() for xfrm_trans_reinject()

syzbot reported a suspicious RCU usage warning in ip6_pkt_drop():

  WARNING: suspicious RCU usage in ip6_pkt_drop
  include/net/addrconf.h:389 suspicious rcu_dereference_check() usage!

  Call Trace:
   __in6_dev_get_safely include/net/addrconf.h:389 [inline]
   ip6_pkt_drop+0x596/0x610 net/ipv6/route.c:4620
   ip6_pkt_discard+0x1c/0x30 net/ipv6/route.c:4651
   xfrm_trans_reinject+0x324/0x630 net/xfrm/xfrm_input.c:806
   process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3322 [inline]
   process_scheduled_works+0xa8e/0x14e0 kernel/workqueue.c:3405
   worker_thread+0xa47/0xfb0 kernel/workqueue.c:3486

When commit 4f4920669d21 ("xfrm: Reinject transport-mode packets through
workqueue") converted xfrm_trans_reinject from a tasklet to a workqueue,
the reinjection loop ceased running in softirq context. Workqueue workers
run in process context where local_bh_disable() does not enter an RCU
read-side critical section under CONFIG_PREEMPT_RCU.

Because finish callbacks (such as ip6_rcv_finish) expect to run under an
RCU read lock (performing route lookups, l3mdev lookups, and accessing
RCU-protected data structures), invoking them in workqueue context without
rcu_read_lock() triggers RCU lockdep warnings.

Furthermore, packets queued to the workqueue via xfrm_trans_queue_net()
may carry non-refcounted (noref) dst entries (e.g. from ip_route_input_noref).
Additionally, on netdevice unregistration, dst_dev_put() replaces dst->dev
with blackhole_netdev, so dst entries do not keep skb->dev alive while
queued in the workqueue.

Fix these issues by:
1. Calling skb_dst_force(skb) in xfrm_trans_queue_net() while still in the
   caller's RCU section to ensure dst is reference-counted before queuing.
2. Holding a reference on skb->dev via dev_hold()/dev_put() across workqueue
   deferral so skb->dev remains valid during finish() callback processing.
3. Acquiring rcu_read_lock() around the finish callback invocation loop in
   xfrm_trans_reinject().


Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.