CVE-2026-46207 vsock/virtio: fix empty payload in tap skb for non-linear buffers

Medium 5.5 Published Updated

An attacker with access to the vsockmon tap device can read uninitialized kernel memory due to a missing payload copy in non-linear buffers.

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

What is CVE-2026-46207?

CVE-2026-46207 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 28 May 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:

vsock/virtio: fix empty payload in tap skb for non-linear buffers

For non-linear skbs, virtio_transport_build_skb() goes through virtio_transport_copy_nonlinear_skb() to copy the original payload in the new skb to be delivered to the vsockmon tap device. This manually initializes an iov_iter but does not set iov_iter.count. Since the iov_iter is zero-initialized, the copy length is zero and no payload is actually copied to the monitor interface, leaving data un-initialized.

Fix this by removing the linear vs non-linear split and using skb_copy_datagram_iter() with iov_iter_kvec() for all cases, as vhost-vsock already does. This handles both linear and non-linear skbs, properly initializes the iov_iter, and removes the now unused virtio_transport_copy_nonlinear_skb().

While touching this code, let's also check the return value of skb_copy_datagram_iter(), even though it's unlikely to fail.

Weakness: CWE-401

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-46207?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2026-46207?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2026-46207 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46207 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-46207, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-46207, GHSA-c7cv-93jx-fc79, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-46207, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-46207.

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