# 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.

- **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-106374, BELL-CVE-2026-98271, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98271, GHSA-p44r-ff57-rwr9, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98271

## 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.

## Is CVE-2026-98271 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98271 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98271 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98271 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-2026-98271/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98271/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98271
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98271
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98271

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98271/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.