# CVE-2026-23321: mptcp: pm: in-kernel: always mark signal+subflow endp as used

> A logic error in the Linux kernel's MPTCP path manager can trigger a kernel warning and potential denial of service when removing addresses.

- **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:** 25 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-23321, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23321, GHSA-cp65-xq47-m66j, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-23321, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23321, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23321, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23321

## What is CVE-2026-23321?

CVE-2026-23321 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 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:

mptcp: pm: in-kernel: always mark signal+subflow endp as used

Syzkaller managed to find a combination of actions that was generating
this warning:

  msk->pm.local_addr_used == 0
  WARNING: net/mptcp/pm_kernel.c:1071 at __mark_subflow_endp_available net/mptcp/pm_kernel.c:1071 [inline], CPU#1: syz.2.17/961
  WARNING: net/mptcp/pm_kernel.c:1071 at mptcp_nl_remove_subflow_and_signal_addr net/mptcp/pm_kernel.c:1103 [inline], CPU#1: syz.2.17/961
  WARNING: net/mptcp/pm_kernel.c:1071 at mptcp_pm_nl_del_addr_doit+0x81d/0x8f0 net/mptcp/pm_kernel.c:1210, CPU#1: syz.2.17/961
  Modules linked in:
  CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 961 Comm: syz.2.17 Not tainted 6.19.0-08368-gfafda3b4b06b #22 PREEMPT(full)
  Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 25.10 PC v2 (i440FX + PIIX, + 10.1 machine, 1996), BIOS 1.17.0-debian-1.17.0-1build1 04/01/2014
  RIP: 0010:__mark_subflow_endp_available net/mptcp/pm_kernel.c:1071 [inline]
  RIP: 0010:mptcp_nl_remove_subflow_and_signal_addr net/mptcp/pm_kernel.c:1103 [inline]
  RIP: 0010:mptcp_pm_nl_del_addr_doit+0x81d/0x8f0 net/mptcp/pm_kernel.c:1210
  Code: 89 c5 e8 46 30 6f fe e9 21 fd ff ff 49 83 ed 80 e8 38 30 6f fe 4c 89 ef be 03 00 00 00 e8 db 49 df fe eb ac e8 24 30 6f fe 90 <0f> 0b 90 e9 1d ff ff ff e8 16 30 6f fe eb 05 e8 0f 30 6f fe e8 9a
  RSP: 0018:ffffc90001663880 EFLAGS: 00010293
  RAX: ffffffff82de1a6c RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: ffff88800722b500
  RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000
  RBP: ffff8880158b22d0 R08: 0000000000010425 R09: ffffffffffffffff
  R10: ffffffff82de18ba R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff88800641a640
  R13: ffff8880158b1880 R14: ffff88801ec3c900 R15: ffff88800641a650
  FS:  00005555722c3500(0000) GS:ffff8880f909d000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
  CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
  CR2: 00007f66346e0f60 CR3: 000000001607c000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0x117/0x180 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1115
   genl_family_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:1195 [inline]
   genl_rcv_msg+0x3a8/0x3f0 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1210
   netlink_rcv_skb+0x16d/0x240 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2550
   genl_rcv+0x28/0x40 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1219
   netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1318 [inline]
   netlink_unicast+0x3e9/0x4c0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1344
   netlink_sendmsg+0x4aa/0x5b0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1894
   sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:727 [inline]
   __sock_sendmsg+0xc9/0xf0 net/socket.c:742
   ____sys_sendmsg+0x272/0x3b0 net/socket.c:2592
   ___sys_sendmsg+0x2de/0x320 net/socket.c:2646
   __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2678 [inline]
   __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2683 [inline]
   __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2681 [inline]
   __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x110/0x1a0 net/socket.c:2681
   do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline]
   do_syscall_64+0x143/0x440 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
  RIP: 0033:0x7f66346f826d
  Code: ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 f3 0f 1e fa 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 e8 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48
  RSP: 002b:00007ffc83d8bdc8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 000000000000002e
  RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f6634985fa0 RCX: 00007f66346f826d
  RDX: 00000000040000b0 RSI: 0000200000000740 RDI: 0000000000000007
  RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
  R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007f6634985fa8
  R13: 00007f6634985fac R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000001770
   </TASK>

The actions that caused that seem to be:

 - Set the MPTCP subflows limit to 0
 - Create an MPTCP endpoint with both the 'signal' and 'subflow' flags
 - Create a new MPTCP connection from a different address: an ADD_ADDR
   linked to the MPTCP endpoint will be sent ('signal' flag), but no
   subflows is initiated ('subflow' flag)
 - Remove the MPTCP endpoint

---truncated---

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23321?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23321?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23321 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23321 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-2026-23321 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23321 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 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-2026-23321 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-2026-23321/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23321/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23321
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23321
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23321

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23321/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.