# CVE-2026-74577: net: mpls: initialize rtm_tos in mpls_getroute()

> An attacker with local access can trigger an uninitialized memory leak in the Linux kernel MPLS routing code, exposing heap data.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-96354, BELL-CVE-2026-74577, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-74577, GHSA-c2h5-j92r-8w96, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-74577

## What is CVE-2026-74577?

CVE-2026-74577 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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:

net: mpls: initialize rtm_tos in mpls_getroute()

mpls_getroute() builds the RTM_NEWROUTE reply to an RTM_GETROUTE
request by filling a struct rtmsg allocated from an skb whose data
area is not zeroed (alloc_skb(NLMSG_GOODSIZE, ...)). It sets every
field of the header except rtm_tos:

	r = nlmsg_data(nlh);
	r->rtm_family	 = AF_MPLS;
	r->rtm_dst_len	= 20;
	r->rtm_src_len	= 0;
	r->rtm_table	= RT_TABLE_MAIN;
	r->rtm_type	= RTN_UNICAST;
	r->rtm_scope	= RT_SCOPE_UNIVERSE;
	r->rtm_protocol = rt->rt_protocol;
	r->rtm_flags	= 0;

struct rtmsg has no padding, so the one uninitialised byte rtm_tos
(offset 3) is copied straight to user space on recvmsg(), leaking a
byte of uninitialised heap memory. This is in contrast to
mpls_dump_route(), which fills the very same header and does set
rtm_tos = 0.

Initialize rtm_tos to 0, matching mpls_dump_route().

Reproduced with KMSAN by adding an MPLS route and issuing a
non-RTM_F_FIB_MATCH RTM_GETROUTE for its label:

  BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in _copy_to_iter+0x36c/0x33f0
   _copy_to_iter+0x36c/0x33f0
   __skb_datagram_iter+0x196/0x12c0
   skb_copy_datagram_iter+0x5b/0x210
   netlink_recvmsg+0x37b/0xef0
   ...
  Uninit was created at:
   __alloc_skb+0x8ca/0x10e0
   mpls_getroute+0x1280/0x3a40
   rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x1138/0x15a0
   ...
  Byte 19 of 64 is uninitialized

(byte 19 = nlmsghdr(16) + rtmsg offset 3 = rtm_tos)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-74577?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-74577?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-74577 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-74577 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-74577 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-74577 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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-2026-74577 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-2026-74577/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74577/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74577
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74577
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-74577

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74577/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.