CVE-2026-89561 ipv6: rpl: fix NULL dereference of idev in ipv6_rpl_srh_rcv()
A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel IPv6 RPL handler allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted network traffic.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-89561?
CVE-2026-89561 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 11 Sep 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:
ipv6: rpl: fix NULL dereference of idev in ipv6_rpl_srh_rcv()
ipv6_rpl_srh_rcv() dereferences idev from __in6_dev_get() without a NULL check when reading idev->cnf.rpl_seg_enabled.
When the device's MTU drops below IPV6_MIN_MTU, addrconf_ifdown() clears dev->ip6_ptr through RCU_INIT_POINTER(). A packet that passed the idev check in ip6_rcv_core() can then reach ipv6_rpl_srh_rcv() with dev->ip6_ptr already NULL.
Reproduced by flooding the receiving interface with ping6 traffic while flapping its MTU between 1500 and 1200:
BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in ipv6_rpl_srh_rcv+0xb3/0x1070 Read of size 4 at addr 00000000000006b4 by task ping6/394
CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 394 Comm: ping6 Not tainted 7.2.0-rc7-micro-vm-dev-00095-g24ef02f934ee #240 PREEMPT(full) Call Trace: <IRQ> kasan_report+0xc6/0x100 ipv6_rpl_srh_rcv+0xb3/0x1070 ip6_protocol_deliver_rcu+0x759/0x9a0 ip6_input_finish+0xa8/0x1b0 ip6_input+0xe1/0x490 ipv6_rcv+0x33d/0x460 __netif_receive_skb_one_core+0xd6/0x130 process_backlog+0x2cc/0xa00 __napi_poll.constprop.0+0x56/0x270 net_rx_action+0x327/0x730 handle_softirqs+0x11e/0x630 do_softirq+0xb3/0xf0 </IRQ>
Both ipv6_rpl_srh_rcv() and ipv6_srh_rcv() are called only from ipv6_rthdr_rcv(), which already has an idev lookup.
Fix the NULL dereference on the RPL path by checking idev in ipv6_rthdr_rcv(), before it calls either function. The callees take idev as an argument and no longer call __in6_dev_get(), so the packet is now dropped in one place, with SKB_DROP_REASON_IPV6DISABLED on both paths.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-89561?
How do I fix CVE-2026-89561?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-89561 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-89561 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-100190, BELL-CVE-2026-89561, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-89561, GHSA-cq7m-m9w3-cxf7, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-89561.