CVE-2026-97965 PUBLISHED

vxlan: initialize _md in vxlan_xmit_one()

Assigner: Linux
Reserved: 25.09.2026 Published: 25.09.2026 Updated: 25.09.2026

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

vxlan: initialize _md in vxlan_xmit_one()

If a VXLAN device is configured with both VXLAN_F_COLLECT_METADATA and VXLAN_F_GBP, and a packet is transmitted through it using an external ip_tunnel_info that lacks the IP_TUNNEL_VXLAN_OPT_BIT flag, md is left pointing to the uninitialized _md stack variable:

<pre> if (test_bit(IP_TUNNEL_VXLAN_OPT_BIT, info->key.tun_flags)) { if (info->options_len < sizeof(*md)) goto drop; md = ip_tunnel_info_opts(info); } </pre>

Because IP_TUNNEL_VXLAN_OPT_BIT is not set, md is not updated and remains pointing to _md. Later, vxlan_build_skb() is called with md, which eventually calls vxlan_build_gbp_hdr():

<pre> if (vxflags & VXLAN_F_GBP) vxlan_build_gbp_hdr(vxh, md); </pre>

Inside vxlan_build_gbp_hdr(), md->gbp is read:

<pre> if (!md->gbp) return; gbp = (struct vxlanhdr_gbp *)vxh; ... if (md->gbp & VXLAN_GBP_DONT_LEARN) gbp->dont_learn = 1; </pre>

If the stack contains garbage, this causes: 1) VXLAN_HF_GBP flag to be spuriously set in the VXLAN header. 2) gbp->dont_learn and gbp->policy_applied to be set from stack bits. 3) gbp->policy_id to receive 16 bits of uninitialized kernel stack data, leaking it onto the wire.

Fix this by zero-initializing _md. If IP_TUNNEL_VXLAN_OPT_BIT is not present, md->gbp remains 0, and vxlan_build_gbp_hdr() returns early without modifying the VXLAN header.

Product Status

Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from ee122c79d4227f6ec642157834b6a90fcffa4382 to 0d13b5a413bffc8718b3821b78537ccc6596c233 (excl.)
  • affected from ee122c79d4227f6ec642157834b6a90fcffa4382 to bfb74c48ac2d31476d5e09cf9658844508d2608a (excl.)
  • affected from ee122c79d4227f6ec642157834b6a90fcffa4382 to 081f22177d9d12b1e381b787f203cd5f47508187 (excl.)
  • affected from ee122c79d4227f6ec642157834b6a90fcffa4382 to be83178bfc44588f6e3adb827ed874c683193466 (excl.)
Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: affected
  • Version 4.3 is affected
  • unaffected from 0 to 4.3 (excl.)
  • unaffected from 6.12.111 to 6.12.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.18.53 to 6.18.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.2.7 to 7.2.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.3-rc3 to * (incl.)

References