vsock: don't check the listener's sk_err in vsock_accept()
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 6 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vsock: don't check the listener's sk_err in vsock_accept() Syzbot reported an issue which can be reproduced with these steps: r0 = socket(AF_VSOCK, SOCK_STREAM, 0) bind(r0, {VMADDR_CID_ANY, PORT}) connect(r0, {VMADDR_CID_LOCAL, PORT}) -> -1, EPROTO (self-connect) listen(r0, backlog) -> 0 r1 = socket(AF_VSOCK, SOCK_STREAM, 0) connect(r1, {VMADDR_CID_LOCAL, PORT}) -> 0 accept(r0) -> -1, EPROTO (stale sk_err) Basically, it creates a socket (r0) and triggers a self-connect after binding it. This self-connect fails with EPROTO because it loops back to r0 while the socket is still in the TCP_SYN_SENT state, causing it to be incorrectly dispatched to the connecting-client path. The unexpected packet type encountered there sets sk_err to EPROTO. After that, it invokes a listen() call on the same socket. This listen() call succeeds because the kernel's listening path never inspects or clears sk_err. Then, a new socket (r1) is created as a normal client and connects to r0. However, vsock_accept() rejects this incoming connection because the listener's sk_err still holds the EPROTO error from the earlier failed self-connect. This rejection causes the child socket created for r1's connection to never be freed on virtio or hyperv transports; only the VMCI transport implements pending_work to revisit and clean up a rejected socket. For a non-blocking connect(), vsock_connect() may return -EINPROGRESS immediately, and vsock_connect_timeout() can later set sk->sk_err asynchronously. Since no vsock transport ever sets sk_err on a socket while it is in TCP_LISTEN state, checking it in vsock_accept() serves no purpose and only carries forward errors left behind by earlier, unrelated connection attempts on the same socket. Remove the checks so accept() no longer rejects valid incoming connections because of a stale error, which also avoids the resource leak described above.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.110, 6.18.52, 7.2.6, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. 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 7 | 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 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-90138
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-r47p-87c6-4p5v
- 2026-10-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-06 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@64348c55dd7596ca2c033dcd102af44bdd7e8acd · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@c99d12052f663d9914bc944302fee5a1d50d8ca5 · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-11-07 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c99d12052f663d9914bc944302fee5a1d50d8ca5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64348c55dd7596ca2c033dcd102af44bdd7e8acd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c5a75d37c21e558cc6fad1597e732ead30745eed
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36e5fa009f98a4edbe1783ac11c0df672b224742
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/491b368a0c6e5f28b615a50b0d384f5c25fde2a7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8c899cf5e7be29840a172c183dedd8d3e7a0287
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Sources
- CVE-2026-90138 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-90138 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-r47p-87c6-4p5v · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-90138 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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