# CVE-2026-98233: net/packet: clear RX owner on VNET header error

> A remote attacker can cause a denial of service by sending malformed UDP GSO packets that leave a TPACKET_V2 ring slot permanently claimed, blocking subsequent valid packets.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-106224, BELL-CVE-2026-98233, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98233, GHSA-6w2p-qxh2-6wc3, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98233

## What is CVE-2026-98233?

CVE-2026-98233 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 6 Oct 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/packet: clear RX owner on VNET header error

Commit 61fad6816fc1 ("net/packet: tpacket_rcv: avoid a producer race
condition") added rx_owner_map and made tpacket_rcv() claim a V1 or V2
ring slot before converting the virtio-net header.  If the conversion
fails, the drop path leaves the slot claimed.

With a one-frame TPACKET_V2 ring, an unsupported UDP GSO packet leaves
the only slot unavailable, so the ring also drops the next valid packet.

Clear the ownership bit on this error path.  TPACKET_V3 already clears
its block state here.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98233?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98233?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98233 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98233 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98233 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98233 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 6 Oct 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-2026-98233 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-2026-98233/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98233/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98233
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98233
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98233

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98233/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.