Executive brief
A vulnerability was discovered in the Linux kernel's network bridging component, specifically within the Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) feature. By providing an invalid configuration value for the messaging interval, a local user could trigger an infinite loop that rapidly consumes system memory. This can lead to a complete system crash or a denial-of-service (OOM) condition, impacting the availability of the server or network device.
Technical details
A vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel bridge CFM (Connectivity Fault Management) implementation where `ccm_tx_work_expired()` re-arms itself using a delay of 0 if the configured `exp_interval` is invalid or out of range. This occurs because `interval_to_us()` returns 0 for `BR_CFM_CCM_INTERVAL_NONE` or other invalid values, causing `queue_delayed_work()` to fire immediately in a tight loop. This loop continuously allocates socket buffers (skbs) until the system reaches an Out-of-Memory (OOM) state. The fix introduces range validation in the netlink policy for `IFLA_BRIDGE_CFM_CC_CONFIG_EXP_INTERVAL` and rejects CCM transmission starts if the interval is unconfigured.
Affected products
- Linux Linux Kernel 5.11 to 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.74, 6.12.11, 6.13.1
Timeline
- 2026-06-08: disclosed: Initial patch submission by Xiang Mei
- 2026-07-24: patched: Patch committed to stable trees
- 2026-07-27: advisory: CVE published to NVD dataset
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2870056a78961e0fecd652362ee9d3fcfd24a8a6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53788b134519e995699ea3721969c96a08d64575
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/865643640b5b5c4579b32d7a55ac9ad648362eaa
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a090880c1f544589427e5b7050c40fb211ccecb4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b42aeb58317f12024734759ff745856b53948873
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f0f5eb59a97ece0d85de8cfa95dc18c609302a8b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f3e02edd8322b31b8e6517faa6ba053bf29d1e26