CVE-2026-72234 PUBLISHED

batman-adv: access unicast_ttvn skb->data only after skb realloc

Assigner: Linux
Reserved: 09.08.2026 Published: 15.08.2026 Updated: 17.08.2026

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

batman-adv: access unicast_ttvn skb->data only after skb realloc

The pskb_may_pull() called by batadv_get_vid() could reallocate the buffer behind the skb. Variables which were pointing to the old buffer need to be reassigned to avoid an use-after-free.

This was done correctly for the ethernet header but missed for the unicast_packet pointer.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS Score: 9.8

AV:N - Triggered in batadv_check_unicast_ttvn() when batadv_batman_skb_recv() processes incoming BATADV unicast packets from remote mesh peers on hard interfaces; crafted batman-adv frames reach the vulnerable code over the mesh network without local system access. AC:L - An attacker reliably triggers the UAF by sending a batman-adv unicast packet with a VLAN-tagged embedded Ethernet header to a victim node; packet fields are attacker-controlled and can force batadv_get_vid()'s pskb_may_pull() to reallocate the skb buffer. PR:N - No privileges are required on the victim host; exploitation only needs batman-adv active on an interface while the attacker acts as an unauthenticated mesh peer able to transmit batman-adv protocol frames to the target node. UI:N - No victim user interaction is needed; the kernel automatically processes the malicious batman-adv unicast packet on receive through the normal mesh routing receive path. S:U - The use-after-free corrupts kernel heap memory within the same host networking subsystem and does not cross VM, container, or IOMMU boundaries to impact a separate security authority. C:H - The stale unicast_packet pointer dereferences freed skb buffer memory for reads (unicast_packet->dest, unicast_packet->ttvn), constituting a kernel heap use-after-free that can disclose sensitive memory contents. I:H - The stale pointer is used for writes via ether_addr_copy(unicast_packet->dest) and unicast_packet->ttvn updates in reroute paths, enabling heap corruption and potential arbitrary kernel code execution. A:H - Use-after-free on the skb data buffer during batman-adv unicast processing can cause kernel oops, panic, or hang, and UAF heap corruption inherently threatens system availability even before full exploit development.

Product Status

Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from c018ad3de61a1dc4194879a53e5559e094aa7b1a to aa9558af859934f24717d4bab97d61004f91a736 (excl.)
  • affected from c018ad3de61a1dc4194879a53e5559e094aa7b1a to 9c2c05629e46c1fd43931506d41c56a885a98eb4 (excl.)
  • affected from c018ad3de61a1dc4194879a53e5559e094aa7b1a to 7b162b36de750565404cd3b98315706622c6974f (excl.)
  • affected from c018ad3de61a1dc4194879a53e5559e094aa7b1a to ed90eb5c68420cdfe67ec1f773324198d2ef6f50 (excl.)
  • affected from c018ad3de61a1dc4194879a53e5559e094aa7b1a to 979175834a699ccc3c4c0b0ba60ecae0f135a587 (excl.)
  • affected from c018ad3de61a1dc4194879a53e5559e094aa7b1a to b8afcf799b2cc92c41beebd029e53ed18960184a (excl.)
  • affected from c018ad3de61a1dc4194879a53e5559e094aa7b1a to 9a7b7248798123efbd5fafe58461d57c7cc718af (excl.)
  • affected from c018ad3de61a1dc4194879a53e5559e094aa7b1a to 7141990add3f75436f2933cb310654cad3b1e3e9 (excl.)
Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: affected
  • Version 3.13 is affected
  • unaffected from 0 to 3.13 (excl.)
  • unaffected from 5.10.261 to 5.10.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 5.15.212 to 5.15.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.1.178 to 6.1.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.6.145 to 6.6.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.12.97 to 6.12.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.18.40 to 6.18.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.1.5 to 7.1.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.2 to * (incl.)

References