# CVE-2026-52940: tun: zero the whole vnet header in tun_put_user()

> An unprivileged user can leak 14 bytes of kernel stack memory by reading non-tunnel packets via the tun driver.

- **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:** 24 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 24 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-52940, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-52940, GHSA-7mf5-pgq8-jhcp, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-52940

## What is CVE-2026-52940?

CVE-2026-52940 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Jun 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:

tun: zero the whole vnet header in tun_put_user()

tun_put_user() declares an on-stack struct virtio_net_hdr_v1_hash_tunnel
without zeroing it. For a non-tunnel skb, virtio_net_hdr_tnl_from_skb()
only initializes the first 10 bytes (sizeof(struct virtio_net_hdr)),
leaving bytes 10..23 (num_buffers and the hash/tunnel fields) as stack
garbage.

An unprivileged user can set the vnet header size to 24 with
TUNSETVNETHDRSZ, so __tun_vnet_hdr_put() copies all 24 bytes of the
partially-initialized struct to userspace, leaking 14 bytes of kernel
stack on every read of a non-tunnel packet.

Fix it the same way tun_get_user() already does by zeroing the whole
header right after declaration.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-52940?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-52940?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-52940 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-52940 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-2026-52940 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-52940 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Jun 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-2026-52940 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-2026-52940/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-52940/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-52940
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-52940
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-52940

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-52940/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.