CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-80725

Low risk· EPSS 9%
Published: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.19%

9th percentile - higher than 9% of all known CVEs

Summary

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's GRO (Generic Receive Offload) mechanism related to BIG TCP packet aggregation has been found. Improper validation of aggregation criteria allows an out-of-bounds write and wrapping of the mac_header pointer, potentially leading to system crashes or code execution. The issue affects older stable branches, e.g., 6.18.y, and has been fixed by tightening conditions in skb_gro_receive().

Risk Assessment

The risk includes the possibility of remote denial of service (DoS) or privilege escalation via crafted network packets, especially in environments with BIG TCP enabled. An attacker with network access, e.g., via AF_PACKET, could exploit this.

Recommendation

It is recommended to urgently update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix (e.g., from the 6.18.y branch with appropriate backport). If updating is not possible, consider disabling BIG TCP or restricting access to network interfaces for untrusted users.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

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Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: gro: properly validate BIG TCP aggregation criteria When GRO attempts to aggregate packets beyond GRO_LEGACY_MAX_SIZE (64KB), BIG TCP should only be permitted for plain IPv4 TCP and plain IPv6 TCP (with sufficient MAC header room to insert the temporary HBH jumbo header). However, commit b1a78b9b9886 ("net: add support for ipv4 big tcp") loosened the check in skb_gro_receive(), leading to several issues: 1. skb_gro_receive() checked skb_headroom(p) instead of the actual space before the MAC header (p->mac_header). Because skb_headroom(p) includes mac_len, crafted frames (e.g. injected via AF_PACKET) can pass the check with p->mac_header < 8 bytes. When ipv6_gro_complete() inserts the temporary HBH jumbo header, the memmove() starts before skb->head, causing an out-of-bounds write and wrapping skb->mac_header. 2. It allowed non-IP protocols such as software VLAN (ETH_P_8021Q / ETH_P_8021AD) to aggregate beyond 64KB because p->protocol != ETH_P_IPV6 was true. 3. It checked p->encapsulation instead of NAPI_GRO_CB(skb)->encap_mark, allowing encapsulated flows (e.g. SIT / IPv6-in-IPv4) to aggregate beyond 64KB. Fix skb_gro_receive() to strictly enforce: - NAPI_GRO_CB(skb)->proto == IPPROTO_TCP - Not encapsulated (!NAPI_GRO_CB(skb)->encap_mark && !p->encapsulation) - Protocol must be either ETH_P_IP or ETH_P_IPV6 - If ETH_P_IPV6, p->mac_header must be at least sizeof(struct hop_jumbo_hdr) Returning -E2BIG from skb_gro_receive() ensures that packets which cannot become BIG TCP are cleanly flushed at <= 64KB and delivered intact without dropping. This issue does not exist in mainline (7.0+) because the subsystem was rewritten in commit 81be30c1f5f2 ("net/ipv6: Drop HBH for BIG TCP on RX side"), making this fix relevant only for older stable branches like 6.18.y.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS