slip: reject VJ receive packets on instances with no rstate array
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-476.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: slip: reject VJ receive packets on instances with no rstate array slhc_init() accepts rslots == 0 as a valid configuration, with the documented meaning of 'no receive compression'. In that case the allocation loop in slhc_init() is skipped, so comp->rstate stays NULL and comp->rslot_limit stays 0 (from the kzalloc of struct slcompress). The receive helpers do not defend against that configuration. slhc_uncompress() dereferences comp->rstate[x] when the VJ header carries an explicit connection ID, and slhc_remember() later assigns cs = &comp->rstate[...] after only comparing the packet's slot number to comp->rslot_limit. Because rslot_limit is 0, slot 0 passes the range check, and the code dereferences a NULL rstate. The configuration is reachable in-tree through PPP. PPPIOCSMAXCID stores its argument in a signed int, and (val >> 16) uses arithmetic shift. Passing 0xffff0000 therefore sign-extends to -1, so val2 + 1 is 0 and ppp_generic.c ends up calling slhc_init(0, 1). Because /dev/ppp open is gated by ns_capable(CAP_NET_ADMIN), the whole path is reachable from an unprivileged user namespace. Once the malformed VJ state is installed, any inbound VJ-compressed or VJ-uncompressed frame that selects slot 0 crashes the kernel in softirq context: Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000000: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000000007] RIP: 0010:slhc_uncompress (drivers/net/slip/slhc.c:519) Call Trace: <TASK> ppp_receive_nonmp_frame (drivers/net/ppp/ppp_generic.c:2466) ppp_input (drivers/net/ppp/ppp_generic.c:2359) ppp_async_process (drivers/net/ppp/ppp_async.c:492) tasklet_action_common (kernel/softirq.c:926) handle_softirqs (kernel/softirq.c:623) run_ksoftirqd (kernel/softirq.c:1055) smpboot_thread_fn (kernel/smpboot.c:160) kthread (kernel/kthread.c:436) ret_from_fork (arch/x86/kernel/process.c:164) </TASK> Reject the receive side on such instances instead of touching rstate. slhc_uncompress() falls through to its existing 'bad' label, which bumps sls_i_error and enters the toss state. slhc_remember() mirrors that with an explicit sls_i_error increment followed by slhc_toss(); the sls_i_runt counter is not used here because a missing rstate is an internal configuration state, not a runt packet. The transmit path is unaffected: the only in-tree caller that picks rslots from userspace (ppp_generic.c) still supplies tslots >= 1, and slip.c always calls slhc_init(16, 16), so comp->tstate remains valid and slhc_compress() continues to work.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 2.6.32.70 to before 2.6.33; 3.2.75 to before 3.3; 3.4.111 to before 3.5; 3.10.96 to before 3.11; 3.12.53 to before 3.13; 3.14.60 to before 3.15; 3.18.27 to before 3.19; 4.1.17 to before 4.2; 4.3.5 to before 4.4 | 2.6.33, 3.3, 3.5, 3.11, 3.13, 3.15, 3.19, 4.2, 4.4 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 4.4 and later | 5.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175, 6.6.141, 6.12.91, 6.18.33, 7.0.10, 7.1 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 2.6.32.70 to before 2.6.33; 3.2.75 to before 3.3; 3.4.111 to before 3.5; 3.10.96 to before 3.11; 3.12.53 to before 3.13; 3.14.60 to before 3.15; 3.18.27 to before 3.19; 4.1.17 to before 4.2; 4.3.5 to before 4.4 Fixed in 2.6.33, 3.3, 3.5, 3.11, 3.13, 3.15, 3.19, 4.2, 4.4 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.4 and later Fixed in 5.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175, 6.6.141, 6.12.91, 6.18.33, 7.0.10, 7.1 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.6.32.70 to before 2.6.33; 3.2.75 to before 3.3; 3.4.111 to before 3.5; 3.10.96 to before 3.11; 3.12.53 to before 3.13; 3.14.60 to before 3.15; 3.18.27 to before 3.19; 4.1.17 to before 4.2; 4.3.5 to before 5.10.258; 5.11 to before 5.15.209; 5.16 to before 6.1.175; 6.2 to before 6.6.141; 6.7 to before 6.12.91; 6.13 to before 6.18.33; 6.19 to before 7.0.10 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.6.32.70 to before 2.6.33; 3.2.75 to before 3.3; 3.4.111 to before 3.5; 3.10.96 to before 3.11; 3.12.53 to before 3.13; 3.14.60 to before 3.15; 3.18.27 to before 3.19; 4.1.17 to before 4.2; 4.3.5 to before 5.10.258; 5.11 to before 5.15.209; 5.16 to before 6.1.175; 6.2 to before 6.6.141; 6.7 to before 6.12.91; 6.13 to before 6.18.33; 6.19 to before 7.0.10 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 2.6.33, 3.3, 3.5, 3.11, 3.13, 3.15, 3.19, 4.2, 4.4
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.258, 5.15.209, 6.1.175, 6.6.141, 6.12.91, 6.18.33, 7.0.10, 7.1
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-45842
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-g2vj-v28f-r7cf
- 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d71c961febddd855d3ae9a519eeb96c8023f430
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/72304fec672e8aac9ee7b9c475db96b37cca8d8d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4aa9eca6fda2919027dfd7a7cc69334982d89586
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c6980e8b1a86288167f34966fa5219031999b6f1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de42f86e2cf5028a97e74c25869d1a962b13c301
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e1ff0eead073c4f46d874ad2526b7dda5465faf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7b0d9e878ec2b21d99ae8051b3dda59cdb66c152
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e76607442d5b73e1ba6768f501ef815bb58c2c0e
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- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2026-45842 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-45842 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-g2vj-v28f-r7cf · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-45842 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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