Nonce reuse in Linux kernel TIPC encryption on peer key changes
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: 5 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel TIPC implementation encrypts traffic between nodes with AES-GCM using a per-peer transmit key. When a peer reports a change in its receive key, TIPC resets the packet counter, so the same key and nonce are reused for later packets. An attacker who captures traffic can recover the GCM authentication key and forge valid tags for modified ciphertexts.
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: tipc: prevent GCM nonce reuse on peer key changes TIPC can encrypt traffic between nodes using a different transmit key for each node. In this mode, the AES-GCM nonce for a packet sent to a known peer consists of a 32-bit prefix (a per-key salt XOR the peer's address) followed by a 64-bit counter. That counter is stored in the peer's RX crypto object. When the peer reports a change in which key it uses to receive packets, TIPC resets this counter. The sender can still be using the same TX key and salt, so subsequent packets reuse earlier nonces. This nonce reuse breaks confidentiality and exposes GCM's authentication key. This makes forgeries trivial: an attacker can exploit CTR malleability to alter captured ciphertexts and use the recovered authentication key to compute a valid tag for the modified ciphertext, under the same key and nonce. Use the TX key's existing aead->seqno counter instead. All encryptions using that key object share the same atomic counter, so concurrent encryptions get distinct nonce counter values. The counter survives key activation and peer reconnection, and peer key-status reports cannot reset it. This prevents those transitions from causing nonce reuse while the same TX key remains installed. The nonce format is unchanged, and receivers do not require consecutive counter values, so sharing the counter across peers remains compatible with existing receivers. A pre-existing check still invokes key revocation in the unlikely event that the counter wraps to zero.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Update the Linux kernel to 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 or 7.3, or to a kernel that includes the fixing commits. Red Hat lists Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, 9 and 10 and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5 as affected; 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 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10, 7.3
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 8 | 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: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98805
- 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-c3cw-v3mg-q5gm
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@a85a3dce4b6c73ddaa1e9725b906249744bf7cf2 · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-24 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-24 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/Linux@04d67f77fe3f9ec9c60db70773fb1696d0d58da8, Linux/Linux@0ff0ca5b514ceecad68b8682e072f373acc5acec, Linux/[email protected] +3 · CNA
- 2026-10-30 3 new references · CNA
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/04d67f77fe3f9ec9c60db70773fb1696d0d58da8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7e5d5ac25e0857548cac963a2f850b19b2e1d59c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0ff0ca5b514ceecad68b8682e072f373acc5acec
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a85a3dce4b6c73ddaa1e9725b906249744bf7cf2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5c8ce13c792e28d56f9ec3cd6728d8225bc0e3a2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f74f100e49588c1dbdc6ab3ba9e2c67b36d015d0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/60e0c2aeaa605ff19ca4e65126a35643d4d7ee1c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/512ccd3d0e91e791fb37442aa0a2599aca19783d
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98805 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98805 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-c3cw-v3mg-q5gm · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98805 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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