Executive brief
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's networking component could allow a local attacker to crash the system. The issue occurs when the system handles specific types of tunneled network traffic (GRE) in combination with certain network interface configurations. This results in a kernel panic, leading to a complete denial of service for the affected device.
Technical details
The vulnerability is a kernel panic (skb_under_panic) within the net/ipv4/ip_gre.c component of the Linux kernel. It is caused by ipgre_header() failing to ensure sufficient headroom exists in a socket buffer (skb) before calling skb_push(). This occurs when team or bonding drivers dynamically change their required headroom or header length while an ipgre device is attached. A local attacker can trigger this condition to cause a kernel BUG at net/core/skbuff.c:213, resulting in a denial of service. The fix involves adding a check for sufficient headroom and expanding the header if necessary using pskb_expand_head() before proceeding with the GRE header insertion.
Affected products
- Linux Linux Kernel versions prior to 6.13, 6.12.11, 6.11.11, 6.6.74, 6.1.127, 5.15.178, 5.10.234, 5.4.290
- Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP V3.1.6
- Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP V3.1.6
- Siemens SIPLUS S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP V3.1.6
Timeline
- 2026-01-08: disclosed: Initial patch submitted by Eric Dumazet
- 2026-01-23: patched: Patches merged into various stable kernel branches
- 2026-01-25: advisory: CVE published to NVD
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/06fe0801396a36cab865b34f666de1d65bc5ce8e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2ecf0aa7cc262472a9599cc51ba02ada0897a17a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/554201ed0a8f4d32e719f42caeaeb2735a9ed6ca
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8d5b6b2d79c1c22a5b0db1187a6439dff375a022
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa57bfea4674e6da8104fa3a37760a6f5f255dad
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e67c577d89894811ce4dcd1a9ed29d8b63476667
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eeb9a521de40c6fadccc12fa5205e5a1b364d5a8