CVE-2026-63831 mac802154: llsec: add skb_cow_data() before in-place crypto

What is CVE-2026-63831?

CVE-2026-63831 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jul 2026.

Official description

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

mac802154: llsec: add skb_cow_data() before in-place crypto

llsec_do_encrypt_unauth(), llsec_do_encrypt_auth(), llsec_do_decrypt_unauth(), and llsec_do_decrypt_auth() all perform in-place cryptographic transformations on skb data. They build a scatterlist with sg_init_one() pointing into the skb's linear data area and then pass the same scatterlist as both src and dst to the crypto API (e.g. crypto_skcipher_encrypt/decrypt, crypto_aead_encrypt/decrypt).

On the RX path, __ieee802154_rx_handle_packet() clones the received skb before handing it to each subscriber via ieee802154_subif_frame(). The cloned skb shares the same underlying data buffer via reference counting. When llsec_do_decrypt() subsequently modifies this shared buffer in place, it corrupts data that other clones -- potentially belonging to other sockets or subsystems -- still reference.

On the TX path, similar data sharing can occur when an skb's head has been cloned (skb_cloned() returns true).

The fix is to call skb_cow_data() before performing any in-place crypto operation. skb_cow_data() ensures that the skb's data area is not shared: if the skb head is cloned or the data spans multiple fragments, it copies the data into a private buffer that can be safely modified in place. This is the same pattern used by:

- ESP (net/ipv4/esp4.c, net/ipv6/esp6.c) - MACsec (drivers/net/macsec.c) - WireGuard (drivers/net/wireguard/receive.c) - TIPC (net/tipc/crypto.c)

Without this guard, in-place crypto on shared skb data leads to: - Silent data corruption of other skb clones - Use-after-free when the crypto API scatterwalk writes through a page that has already been freed by another clone's kfree_skb() - Kernel crashes under concurrent 802.15.4 traffic with security enabled (KASAN/KMSAN reports slab-use-after-free)

Found by 0sec (https://0sec.ai) using automated source analysis.

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-63831?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2026-63831?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Is CVE-2026-63831 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-63831 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-63831, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-63831, GHSA-3745-g9hm-6m5f, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-63831, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-63831, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-63831.