CVE-2026-74667

net/packet: reset the MAC header on the packet-socket transmit path

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: August 22, 2026 at 03:32 PM UTC
Updated: October 16, 2026 at 08:17 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/packet: reset the MAC header on the packet-socket transmit path packet_parse_headers() resets the MAC header only for a SOCK_RAW frame whose socket did not bind a protocol. A protocol-bound SOCK_RAW socket, any SOCK_DGRAM frame, and the legacy SOCK_PACKET path therefore leave skb->mac_header unset here. For frames sent via __dev_queue_xmit() this is harmless: it resets the MAC header unconditionally. But the packet-socket PACKET_QDISC_BYPASS path uses dev_direct_xmit(), which does not, so the frame reaches ndo_start_xmit() with the MAC header unset. A driver that reads eth_hdr(skb) on transmit then dereferences skb->head + (u16)~0, an out-of-bounds access ~64 KiB past the head -- the same class fixed for one consumer in commit f5089008f90c ("macsec: do not read an unset MAC header in macsec_encrypt()"). packet_parse_headers() runs only on the transmit path, where skb->data points at the start of the L2 header for every packet-socket type regardless of its length: SOCK_RAW and SOCK_PACKET carry a user-supplied header and SOCK_DGRAM has one built by dev_hard_header(). Reset the MAC header unconditionally, mirroring __dev_queue_xmit(), so the frame is anchored on the bypass path too. Found by 0sec (https://0sec.ai) using automated source analysis; verified against source and matched to the macsec KASAN report in f5089008f90c. Compile-tested.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

5.175c65772c3d18447d62d3aca5f91b06c16cc25e4
Vendor states this is fixed in 1e43a1d66615f411d427f9df1f46dd049d9e3681 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 2610ed4e86a4590234a9d70518c469751c5af231 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 284f3e7a3f1a743fdf89e304fd1f19d5ffcff46d (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4057853a91fb796c4f47c7d1baf1aa085394148e (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 971aa7d99242bbf09513e27b7a243f0b29ff23ae (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in b47ba8fe6e1d2df8c92048de5afafd059447dc30 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in c2707480cfbf19c7619acc9c089d17f20869821f (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in fdd4d7d52358a58e351dd9d82530c04eba8ccd7a (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.265 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.216 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.183 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.104 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.45 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.152 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1.9 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.8HIGHLinux
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusRECEIVED

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