# 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.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 16 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72296, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72296, GHSA-q79p-vh4m-jfvr, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72296

## 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.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72296 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72296 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-72296/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72296/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72296
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72296
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72296

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72296/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.