net: gro: properly validate BIG TCP aggregation criteria
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: gro: properly validate BIG TCP aggregation criteria When GRO attempts to aggregate packets beyond GRO_LEGACY_MAX_SIZE (64KB), BIG TCP should only be permitted for plain IPv4 TCP and plain IPv6 TCP (with sufficient MAC header room to insert the temporary HBH jumbo header). However, commit b1a78b9b9886 ("net: add support for ipv4 big tcp") loosened the check in skb_gro_receive(), leading to several issues: 1. skb_gro_receive() checked skb_headroom(p) instead of the actual space before the MAC header (p->mac_header). Because skb_headroom(p) includes mac_len, crafted frames (e.g. injected via AF_PACKET) can pass the check with p->mac_header < 8 bytes. When ipv6_gro_complete() inserts the temporary HBH jumbo header, the memmove() starts before skb->head, causing an out-of-bounds write and wrapping skb->mac_header. 2. It allowed non-IP protocols such as software VLAN (ETH_P_8021Q / ETH_P_8021AD) to aggregate beyond 64KB because p->protocol != ETH_P_IPV6 was true. 3. It checked p->encapsulation instead of NAPI_GRO_CB(skb)->encap_mark, allowing encapsulated flows (e.g. SIT / IPv6-in-IPv4) to aggregate beyond 64KB. Fix skb_gro_receive() to strictly enforce: - NAPI_GRO_CB(skb)->proto == IPPROTO_TCP - Not encapsulated (!NAPI_GRO_CB(skb)->encap_mark && !p->encapsulation) - Protocol must be either ETH_P_IP or ETH_P_IPV6 - If ETH_P_IPV6, p->mac_header must be at least sizeof(struct hop_jumbo_hdr) Returning -E2BIG from skb_gro_receive() ensures that packets which cannot become BIG TCP are cleanly flushed at <= 64KB and delivered intact without dropping. This issue does not exist in mainline (7.0+) because the subsystem was rewritten in commit 81be30c1f5f2 ("net/ipv6: Drop HBH for BIG TCP on RX side"), making this fix relevant only for older stable branches like 6.18.y.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.185, 6.6.154, 6.12.106, 6.18.47, 7.0
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-80725
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-gvcm-7jx2-fwf2
- 2026-10-13 EPSS moved to the below the 50th percentile
- 2026-10-18 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-22 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37a5dcd6837fc2afc44a7bc3ed8af4e983783d46
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e907bf694ed55bdfe421be99dba35751a655df25
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/03cb8cc2961f5f781d12e903782cb3815ed84b1c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ce832e2bd431d0c12ba525ed73ad8fbc4191da5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/81be30c1f5f2bffda1f04c0efd0746af10b9643a
More Linux vulnerabilities
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Sources
- CVE-2026-80725 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-80725 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-gvcm-7jx2-fwf2 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-80725 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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