net: ipv6: Fix UDP length overflow with PMTU discover and big MTU
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: 2 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: net: ipv6: Fix UDP length overflow with PMTU discover and big MTU This commit bounds cork->base.fragsize to IP6_MAX_MTU for UDP sockets to avoid a possible overflow of UDP length that triggers a WARN in udp_set_len_short when setsockopt IPV6_MTU_DISCOVER is set to IPV6_PMTUDISC_DO or IPV6_PMTUDISC_PROBE, and a large packet is sent over a netdev with an unusually large MTU. Steps to reproduce (included in the new selftest): 1. Set device MTU bigger than IP6_MAX_MTU. cork->base.fragsize will be set to that MTU in ip6_setup_cork. 2. Set IPV6_MTU_DISCOVER to IPV6_PMTUDISC_PROBE or IPV6_PMTUDISC_DO. It lets maxnonfragsize be set to device MTU (cork->fragsize) in __ip6_append_data, rather than to IP6_MAX_MTU. 3. Send 65528 bytes of payload (+8 bytes of UDP header, +40 bytes of IPv6 header). Device MTU allows it (it's only one byte bigger than IP6_MAX_MTU, and the device MTU is bigger than that). 4. The UDP length in the built packet is 65536, which overflows the 16-bit length field and triggers the WARN in udp_set_len_short. To avoid breaking sending UDP jumbograms over raw IPv6 sockets, limit the change to UDP sockets only. The original overflow bug with IPv6 and IPV6_PMTUDISC_DO seems to predate git history (verified reproduction on 2.6.21), was fixed later, and then reappeared in commit 427faee167bc ("net: ipv6: introduce ip6_dst_mtu_maybe_forward"), which is chosen as the Fixes tag here. The overflow with IPV6_PMTUDISC_PROBE reproduces since its introduction in commit 628a5c561890 ("[INET]: Add IP(V6)_PMTUDISC_RPOBE").
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 6.6.158, 6.12.111, 6.18.53, 7.2.7, 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 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-97984
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-5m3w-7wwr-wqm2
- 2026-10-03 Fix available: Linux/Linux@1dd562f3019019ffdf4b396570613053facda9ee, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-03 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-11-07 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1dd562f3019019ffdf4b396570613053facda9ee
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1d56a00ec91f2885c64ea5b8cea18cb746b91bbb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ce66352d3eb21825410af8b91db7cc4bb8e22c98
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e01b7c176d9af2b7c22bb3fe12cf9a7904f99fdc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0ae10b6be49b425827659b23bcce498f80eb7182
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Sources
- CVE-2026-97984 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-97984 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-5m3w-7wwr-wqm2 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-97984 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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