# CVE-2026-23200: ipv6: Fix ECMP sibling count mismatch when clearing RTF_ADDRCONF

> A logic error in Linux kernel IPv6 routing causes a kernel BUG and system crash when adding static routes with gateways, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 14 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-77808, BELL-CVE-2026-23200, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23200, GHSA-q4xx-rwj3-jf4m, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23200, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23200

## What is CVE-2026-23200?

CVE-2026-23200 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 14 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

ipv6: Fix ECMP sibling count mismatch when clearing RTF_ADDRCONF

syzbot reported a kernel BUG in fib6_add_rt2node() when adding an IPv6
route. [0]

Commit f72514b3c569 ("ipv6: clear RA flags when adding a static
route") introduced logic to clear RTF_ADDRCONF from existing routes
when a static route with the same nexthop is added. However, this
causes a problem when the existing route has a gateway.

When RTF_ADDRCONF is cleared from a route that has a gateway, that
route becomes eligible for ECMP, i.e. rt6_qualify_for_ecmp() returns
true. The issue is that this route was never added to the
fib6_siblings list.

This leads to a mismatch between the following counts:

- The sibling count computed by iterating fib6_next chain, which
  includes the newly ECMP-eligible route

- The actual siblings in fib6_siblings list, which does not include
  that route

When a subsequent ECMP route is added, fib6_add_rt2node() hits
BUG_ON(sibling->fib6_nsiblings != rt->fib6_nsiblings) because the
counts don't match.

Fix this by only clearing RTF_ADDRCONF when the existing route does
not have a gateway. Routes without a gateway cannot qualify for ECMP
anyway (rt6_qualify_for_ecmp() requires fib_nh_gw_family), so clearing
RTF_ADDRCONF on them is safe and matches the original intent of the
commit.

[0]:
kernel BUG at net/ipv6/ip6_fib.c:1217!
Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN PTI
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 6010 Comm: syz.0.17 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full)
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 10/25/2025
RIP: 0010:fib6_add_rt2node+0x3433/0x3470 net/ipv6/ip6_fib.c:1217
[...]
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 fib6_add+0x8da/0x18a0 net/ipv6/ip6_fib.c:1532
 __ip6_ins_rt net/ipv6/route.c:1351 [inline]
 ip6_route_add+0xde/0x1b0 net/ipv6/route.c:3946
 ipv6_route_ioctl+0x35c/0x480 net/ipv6/route.c:4571
 inet6_ioctl+0x219/0x280 net/ipv6/af_inet6.c:577
 sock_do_ioctl+0xdc/0x300 net/socket.c:1245
 sock_ioctl+0x576/0x790 net/socket.c:1366
 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline]
 __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:597 [inline]
 __se_sys_ioctl+0xfc/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:583
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0xfa/0xf80 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23200?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23200?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23200 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23200 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-23200 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23200 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 14 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23200 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23200/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23200/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23200
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23200
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23200

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23200/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.