All vulnerabilities
CVE-2026-68136

Linux: net: gro: fix double aggregation of flush-marked skbs

Linux LinuxOperating systems
CVSS
9.8Critical
ExploitationNo known exploitationNot in CISA KEV, which does not prove it is unexploitedCISA KEV
Exploit odds (EPSS)0.54%Chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 44% of CVEs. Scored 23 Oct 2026FIRST EPSS
Fixed in7fc7e35212cf58c134310fb47566a844297ceae9Also 107e1a469f53a2a70874f3f12bf6fcd23925da1dCVE List
Published10 Aug 2026Updated 19 Oct 2026CVE List

What fixes it

  • 7fc7e35212cf58c134310fb47566a844297ceae9LinuxCVE List
  • 107e1a469f53a2a70874f3f12bf6fcd23925da1dLinuxCVE List

A fixed version on one release line is not the upgrade target for every line. Check your exact version and any vendor backports.

Timeline

  1. 10 Aug 2026, 11:58 UTCPublishedCVE List
  2. 23 Oct 2026, 23:22 UTCExploit code publicGitHub proof-of-concept repositories

Reports 1

1 outlet mention it. Reports are not confirmation; each links to its source.

Description

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

net: gro: fix double aggregation of flush-marked skbs

Commit 0ab03f353d36 ("net-gro: Fix GRO flush when receiving a GSO packet.") added a flush check to skb_gro_receive(), but skb_gro_receive_list() lacks the same validation.

As a result, packets marked with NAPI_GRO_CB(skb)->flush may still be re-aggregated.

This allows already-GRO'd packets with existing frag_list to be re-aggregated into a new GRO session, corrupting the frag_list chain structure. When skb_segment() attempts to unpack these malformed packets, it encounters invalid state and triggers a kernel panic.

Scenario (Tethering/Device forwarding):

  1. Driver: Generated aggregated packet P1 via LRO with frag_list
  2. Dev A: Receives aggregated fraglist packet and flush flag set
  3. Dev A: Re-enters GRO, skb_gro_receive_list() is called
  4. Missing flush check allows re-aggregation despite flush flag
  5. Frag_list chain becomes corrupted (loops or dangling refs)
  6. Dev B: TX path calls skb_segment(), crashes on corrupted frag_list

Root cause in skb_segment(): The check at line ~4891: if (hsize <= 0 && i >= nfrags && skb_headlen(list_skb) && (skb_headlen(list_skb) == len || sg)) {

When frag_list is corrupted by double aggregation, when list_skb is a NULL pointer from skb->next, skb_headlen(list_skb) dereference NULL/corrupted pointers occurs.

Call Trace: skb_headlen(NULL skb) skb_segment tcp_gso_segment tcp4_gso_segment inet_gso_segment skb_mac_gso_segment __skb_gso_segment skb_gso_segment validate_xmit_skb validate_xmit_skb_list sch_direct_xmit qdisc_restart __qdisc_run qdisc_run net_tx_action

Fix: Add NAPI_GRO_CB(skb)->flush validation to the early-return check in skb_gro_receive_list(), matching the defensive programming pattern of skb_gro_receive().

Text from CVE List

Affected versions 16

  • Linuxaffected: 3a1296a38d0cf62bffb9a03c585cbd5dbf15d596 before 7fc7e35212cf58c134310fb47566a844297ceae9CVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 3a1296a38d0cf62bffb9a03c585cbd5dbf15d596 before d1fb23f8f794ac4683127bd49a6422bd87e0ac02CVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 3a1296a38d0cf62bffb9a03c585cbd5dbf15d596 before db3e82da616f52e2b27e25e7be3fde2f2a5e54d6CVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 3a1296a38d0cf62bffb9a03c585cbd5dbf15d596 before 107e1a469f53a2a70874f3f12bf6fcd23925da1dCVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 3a1296a38d0cf62bffb9a03c585cbd5dbf15d596 before a4dfd46cc8f08a29c6183794790547d0945f3d45CVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 3a1296a38d0cf62bffb9a03c585cbd5dbf15d596 before fc0c0f7a207f0cd2d2aa725696c907f7d03af9e0CVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 3a1296a38d0cf62bffb9a03c585cbd5dbf15d596 before e751256486d0ded20f5a9f9863467f1dce65142fCVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 5.6CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: all versions before 5.6CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 5.10.266 through 5.10.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 6.1.184 through 6.1.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 6.6.153 through 6.6.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 6.12.101 through 6.12.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 6.18.42 through 6.18.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 7.1.6 through 7.1.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 7.2CVE List

References 7