# CVE-2026-23276: net: add xmit recursion limit to tunnel xmit functions

> A missing recursion limit in Linux kernel tunnel transmission functions allows attackers to cause a kernel stack overflow and system crash via specific network configurations.

- **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:** 20 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-80216, BELL-CVE-2026-23276, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23276, GHSA-89g4-663g-prjh, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-23276, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-23276, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23276, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23276, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23276, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23276

## What is CVE-2026-23276?

CVE-2026-23276 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 Mar 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:

net: add xmit recursion limit to tunnel xmit functions

Tunnel xmit functions (iptunnel_xmit, ip6tunnel_xmit) lack their own
recursion limit. When a bond device in broadcast mode has GRE tap
interfaces as slaves, and those GRE tunnels route back through the
bond, multicast/broadcast traffic triggers infinite recursion between
bond_xmit_broadcast() and ip_tunnel_xmit()/ip6_tnl_xmit(), causing
kernel stack overflow.

The existing XMIT_RECURSION_LIMIT (8) in the no-qdisc path is not
sufficient because tunnel recursion involves route lookups and full IP
output, consuming much more stack per level. Use a lower limit of 4
(IP_TUNNEL_RECURSION_LIMIT) to prevent overflow.

Add recursion detection using dev_xmit_recursion helpers directly in
iptunnel_xmit() and ip6tunnel_xmit() to cover all IPv4/IPv6 tunnel
paths including UDP encapsulated tunnels (VXLAN, Geneve, etc.).

Move dev_xmit_recursion helpers from net/core/dev.h to public header
include/linux/netdevice.h so they can be used by tunnel code.

 BUG: KASAN: stack-out-of-bounds in blake2s.constprop.0+0xe7/0x160
 Write of size 32 at addr ffff88810033fed0 by task kworker/0:1/11
 Workqueue: mld mld_ifc_work
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  __build_flow_key.constprop.0 (net/ipv4/route.c:515)
  ip_rt_update_pmtu (net/ipv4/route.c:1073)
  iptunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:84)
  ip_tunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c:847)
  gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779)
  dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
  sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347)
  __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802)
  bond_dev_queue_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:312)
  bond_xmit_broadcast (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5279)
  bond_start_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5530)
  dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
  __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4841)
  ip_finish_output2 (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:237)
  ip_output (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:438)
  iptunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:86)
  gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779)
  dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
  sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347)
  __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802)
  bond_dev_queue_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:312)
  bond_xmit_broadcast (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5279)
  bond_start_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5530)
  dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
  __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4841)
  ip_finish_output2 (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:237)
  ip_output (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:438)
  iptunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:86)
  ip_tunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c:847)
  gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779)
  dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
  sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347)
  __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802)
  bond_dev_queue_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:312)
  bond_xmit_broadcast (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5279)
  bond_start_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5530)
  dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
  __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4841)
  mld_sendpack
  mld_ifc_work
  process_one_work
  worker_thread
  </TASK>

Weakness: CWE-674 (Uncontrolled Recursion)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23276?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23276?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23276 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23276 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-2026-23276 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23276 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 Mar 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-2026-23276 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-2026-23276/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23276/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23276
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23276
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23276

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23276/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.