Linux kernel FOU leaks sk_buffs when IP protocol is omitted
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: 4 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel FOU module accepts a FOU_ENCAP_DIRECT port created without the FOU_ATTR_IPPROTO attribute, which leaves the protocol at 0. The receive path then returns 0 for every packet, so the UDP tunnel layer does not free the sk_buff and memory leaks. A user who sends a FOU_CMD_ADD request without that attribute causes the leak on each packet received on the port.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fou: reject omitted FOU_ATTR_IPPROTO on FOU_ENCAP_DIRECT Commit 7a9bc9e3f423 ("fou: Don't allow 0 for FOU_ATTR_IPPROTO.") added NLA_POLICY_MIN(NLA_U8, 1) to fou_nl_policy[FOU_ATTR_IPPROTO], which rejects an explicitly supplied FOU_ATTR_IPPROTO == 0 attribute with -ERANGE. However, FOU_ATTR_IPPROTO is an optional netlink attribute. When a user sends FOU_CMD_ADD with FOU_ATTR_TYPE set to FOU_ENCAP_DIRECT and omits FOU_ATTR_IPPROTO entirely, nla_policy validation succeeds and parse_nl_config() leaves cfg->protocol as 0 (from memset(cfg, 0, sizeof(*cfg))). fou_create() then creates a FOU_ENCAP_DIRECT socket with fou->protocol == 0. In fou_udp_recv(), returning -fou->protocol to udp_queue_rcv_one_skb() triggers IP protocol resubmission when fou->protocol > 0, whereas returning 0 tells the UDP tunnel layer that the skb was consumed without freeing it. When fou->protocol == 0, every packet received on the socket returns 0 from fou_udp_recv() and leaks the sk_buff. Reject FOU_ENCAP_DIRECT when !cfg->protocol in fou_create() so that creating a direct encapsulation port without FOU_ATTR_IPPROTO fails with -EINVAL while leaving FOU_CMD_DEL and FOU_CMD_GET (which share parse_nl_config()) unaffected. Tested in QEMU against Linux 7.3.0-rc3 by sending a FOU_CMD_ADD Generic Netlink request with FOU_ATTR_PORT = 5555 and FOU_ATTR_TYPE = FOU_ENCAP_DIRECT while omitting FOU_ATTR_IPPROTO. On the unfixed kernel, FOU_CMD_ADD succeeds (err = 0), FOU_CMD_GET reports fou->type = 1 and fou->protocol = 0, and sending 4000 UDP packets to 127.0.0.1:5555 leaks all 4000 sk_buffs (SUnreclaim in /proc/meminfo grows from 41456 kB to 59008 kB, +17552 kB); with this patch applied, FOU_CMD_ADD is rejected with -EINVAL (-22).
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
The Linux kernel is fixed in stable releases 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9 and 7.3. Red Hat's advisory lists Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 and 9 and OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5 as affected, and the sources list no fixed version for them.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9, 7.3
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 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: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
Timeline
- 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98541
- 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-rj48-hq74-h6fv
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-20 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fd20220f86947d66d4dba2d76f13a28dbd86ef30
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/46b1ffb7e169c7e401dd890b29e55dbc261f8f01
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7f4ba56f5d310dd018972916167985010a5d66a1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3bcc1624cc1cdcc05b566475d6e848093ab2a8f6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8b43f40798bb2758489fbbcae7e841ad4443c213
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b1229b210ef5a39c58be665e6798203751411842
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/520cf06b8ea0ba5bcc1b8b982ef07f02b5e56221
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d22609f3d13fc5baacd92c222731b03c593401db
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98541 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98541 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-rj48-hq74-h6fv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98541 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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