CVE-2026-98271 net: skbuff: do not leave stale header offsets after pskb_carve()
A flaw in the Linux kernel's network stack causes a kernel panic when processing specific RDS TCP packets due to stale header offsets.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-98271?
CVE-2026-98271 is a memory corruption 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: skbuff: do not leave stale header offsets after pskb_carve()
pskb_carve_inside_header() and pskb_carve_inside_nonlinear() remove the first bytes of a packet and reallocate skb->head.
All the headers that were present before the operation are gone, but both functions call skb_headers_offset_update(skb, 0), which is a no-op : skb->mac_header, skb->network_header, skb->transport_header and skb->csum_start keep their old values and now describe bytes which are no longer there.
Both helpers size the new head from the old skb_end_offset(), so the stale offsets still land inside the new allocation. They point past skb_tail_pointer() though, to bytes that were never initialized.
pskb_carve_inside_nonlinear() is the worst case, because it leaves a zombie skb with an empty linear part (skb->data == skb_tail_pointer(skb), skb_headlen(skb) == 0), while skb_mac_header_was_set() is still true and skb->mac_header is way ahead of skb->data.
The only user of pskb_extract() is rds_tcp_data_recv(), and the carved skb is queued on tinc->ti_skb_list. When the RDS incoming message is released, rds_tcp_inc_free() calls skb_queue_purge(), which frees the skbs with SKB_DROP_REASON_QUEUE_PURGE. This is visible from drop_monitor, which then tries to pull back to the (bogus) mac header :
skbuff: __skb_pull(len=234) skb len=6968 data_len=6968 headroom=0 headlen=0 tailroom=0 end-tail=384 mac=(234,14) mac_len=14 net=(248,40) trans=288 shinfo(txflags=0 nr_frags=1 gso(size=1428 type=16 segs=5)) csum(0x100120 start=288 offset=16 ip_summed=3 complete_sw=0 valid=1 level=0) hash(0x7b446c6c sw=0 l4=1) proto=0x86dd pkttype=0 iif=60 kernel BUG at ./include/linux/skbuff.h:2847!
Add skb_carve_reset_headers() to mark the mac and transport headers as not set, reset the network header, clear skb->mac_len, and drop a now meaningless CHECKSUM_PARTIAL (csum_start no longer describes anything).
Invalidate the inner offsets as well. Unlike mac_header and transport_header they have no "unset" sentinel, so a leftover non-zero value still looks like a real header. Zero skb->inner_mac_header, skb->inner_network_header, skb->inner_transport_header, skb->inner_protocol and skb->encapsulation, so that all the header state is invalidated in one place.
v2: fixed an inaccurate changelog. The stale offsets stay inside the new skb->head, which is never smaller than the old one, they simply point past skb_tail_pointer() to bytes that are gone. Thanks to Xuanqiang Luo for insisting on this. Also invalidate the inner header state, as suggested by the netdev AI review : https://netdev-ai.bots.linux.dev/sashiko/#/patchset/20260911114922.621937-1-edumazet%40google.com
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98271?
How do I fix CVE-2026-98271?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-98271 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98271 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-106374, BELL-CVE-2026-98271, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98271, GHSA-p44r-ff57-rwr9, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98271.