CVE-2026-74406 PUBLISHED

vxlan: Fix potential null-ptr-deref in vxlan_gro_prepare_receive().

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

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

vxlan: Fix potential null-ptr-deref in vxlan_gro_prepare_receive().

udp_tunnel_sock_release() could set sk->sk_user_data to NULL while vxlan_gro_prepare_receive() is running.

Let's check if rcu_dereference_sk_user_data() is NULL after skb_gro_remcsum_init().

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 - The bug is in vxlan_gro_prepare_receive() on the UDP GRO receive path; remote VXLAN/UDP packets reach it via inet_gro_receive→udp4_gro_receive→udp_tunnel_gro_rcv→vxlan_gro_receive during NAPI processing on internet/cloud overlay endpoints. AC:L - An attacker can reliably trigger the race by flooding VXLAN GRO packets while concurrently tearing down the VXLAN device (e.g., via CAP_NET_ADMIN in a user namespace); repeated attempts during orchestrated interface churn also make the timing window attacker-driven rather than purely environmental. PR:N - Exploitation requires only the ability to send crafted VXLAN UDP traffic to a listening tunnel port; no target credentials or local account are needed, and concurrent teardown can occur from normal administrative or automation activity rather than attacker-held privileges. UI:N - No victim interaction is required beyond the host already running a VXLAN interface; the attacker triggers the fault purely by sending network packets timed against interface teardown. S:U - Impact is a kernel fault in networking softirq context on the same host; it does not cross VM, container, or IOMMU security boundaries into another authority. C:H - The race can leave a stale vxlan_sock pointer after udp_tunnel_sock_release() frees sk_user_data; dereferencing vs->flags is a use-after-free read that can expose kernel heap contents and is treated as arbitrary read potential under conservative scoring. I:H - Use-after-free on the vxlan_sock object during GRO teardown can corrupt heap metadata or adjacent objects and be leveraged for control-flow hijacking, not merely a benign NULL check failure. A:H - A successful trigger causes a kernel NULL pointer dereference/oops in NAPI/softirq context (documented crash at vxlan_gro_prepare_receive), typically crashing or hanging the host and denying all services.

Product Status

Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 5602c48cf87562c2f95b831d690631935e834295 to 9c58c729d32e7cea5772cc44929c6cd61e5a31cd (excl.)
  • affected from 5602c48cf87562c2f95b831d690631935e834295 to f79c80f173fda9545b220c1f094b65fc06c252d0 (excl.)
  • affected from 5602c48cf87562c2f95b831d690631935e834295 to 08f40c0d23c67c3aa4224c3311e134999c721fb4 (excl.)
  • affected from 5602c48cf87562c2f95b831d690631935e834295 to 4a8cde6f7281ea2c4c290f9ad9923b3631defceb (excl.)
  • affected from 5602c48cf87562c2f95b831d690631935e834295 to ef44dac2a37f86eeae6b88ed10a6d60b35387dfd (excl.)
  • affected from 5602c48cf87562c2f95b831d690631935e834295 to 30a45c0bffdd62350261e2f2689fdba426a33578 (excl.)
Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: affected
  • Version 4.7 is affected
  • unaffected from 0 to 4.7 (excl.)
  • 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