CVE-2026-72296 net: ife: require ETH_HLEN to be pullable in ife_decode()
A malformed IFE frame can cause a kernel crash in ife_decode() due to insufficient linear data checks, leading to denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-72296?
CVE-2026-72296 is a critical vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: ife: require ETH_HLEN to be pullable in ife_decode()
ife decode may return after making only the outer IFE header and metadata pullable. The caller then passes the decapsulated packet to eth_type_trans(), which expects the inner Ethernet header to be accessible from the linear data area.
With a malformed IFE frame, the inner Ethernet header may still be shorter than ETH_HLEN in the linear area, which can lead to a crash in the original code.
Fix this by extending the pull check in ife_decode() so that the inner Ethernet header is also guaranteed to be pullable before returning.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72296?
How do I fix CVE-2026-72296?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-72296 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72296 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-72296, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72296, GHSA-q79p-vh4m-jfvr, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72296.