Uninitialized pointer dereference in Linux kernel RDS CM handler
Key facts
- Attack vector
- —
- Privileges required
- —
- User interaction
- —
- Attack complexity
- —
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- —
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel RDS subsystem from 4.6 is affected. In the RDMA connection manager event handler, the transport pointer stays uninitialized for RDMA devices other than InfiniBand, such as iWARP devices, and the handler then dereferences it. A connection request reaching an RDS listener on such a device crashes the kernel.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-02
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: rds: fix uninitialized trans dereference in CM event handler rds_rdma_cm_event_handler_cmn() assigns trans only when the RDMA device is an InfiniBand CA (RDMA_NODE_IB_CA). On any other device type, e.g. an iWARP RNIC such as siw, trans stays uninitialized, but the event switch dereferences it: unconditionally in the RDMA_CM_EVENT_CONNECT_REQUEST case via trans->cm_handle_connect(), and (with a connection context) in the ROUTE_RESOLVED and ESTABLISHED cases. An RDS listener on an iWARP device therefore crashes the kernel as soon as a connect request arrives: with CONFIG_INIT_STACK_ALL_ZERO the wild load becomes a NULL dereference at offset 0xa0 (&trans->cm_handle_connect) in the iw_cm_wq workqueue. GCC masks the bug in default builds by folding the uninitialized load into &rds_ib_transport; Clang-built kernels take the real uninitialized path and oops. The active side can land on a non-IB device too: the id that rds_ib_conn_path_connect() creates is not restricted to a node type, so rdma_resolve_addr() binds it to whichever device serves the local address, and an iWARP RNIC on the same netdev qualifies. The crash there is different: resolving a route on an iWARP id never fills in cm_id->route.path_rec, and the ROUTE_RESOLVED case writes path_rec[0].sl before it calls into the transport. The iWARP transport was dropped long ago and IB is the only transport left, so make that explicit: initialize trans to &rds_ib_transport at declaration, drop the conditional assignment, reject a connect request that arrives on a non-IB device, and drop a connection whose address resolved to one instead of resolving a route on it. The rejection is limited to RDMA_CM_EVENT_CONNECT_REQUEST on purpose: a non-zero return from the handler makes rdma_cm destroy the id the event was delivered on, which is right for the request's freshly created id but would free a connection id that RDS still owns for any other event. On the active side the id stays ic->i_cm_id and the connection's shutdown destroys it, so that case returns 0. [achender: reject only on RDMA_CM_EVENT_CONNECT_REQUEST instead of bailing out for every event on a non-IB device, so that rdma_cm does not destroy connection ids RDS still tracks; drop a connection whose address resolved to a non-IB device before a route is resolved on it; changelog adjusted]
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, 6.6.161, 6.12.115, 6.18.59, 7.2.13 or 7.3. The sources list no fixed version for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-02
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.273, 5.15.224, 6.1.191, 6.6.161, 6.12.115, 6.18.59, 7.2.13, 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 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
Not affected: 6 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- 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
- 2026-10-28 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-99166
- 2026-10-28 Alias added: GHSA-6552-7g22-4qf3
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/Linux@074bb7cdc3e26afa698888ba56fc1df0e3f24650, Linux/Linux@0d15e853aa88da5375edd32b39d08a048b64a1c5, Linux/[email protected] +7 · CNA
- 2026-10-30 5 new references · CNA
- 2026-11-01 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-01 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-11-02 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0d15e853aa88da5375edd32b39d08a048b64a1c5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8c77774535c3d6162929521a6fa11e3db086fa32
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8973f70cb068012d83cff1cfa3f45ef94ab02267
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2fde862b98db8908e2ebaffbb35a75a0e9d5b33
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/074bb7cdc3e26afa698888ba56fc1df0e3f24650
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5f23e4e3a31dacfd82a8f56be253adc0910ee84f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca14c289ed9ffed6cc64290d039e923e5720a8bf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/492ba6ac1b1ffb8a06ff52db0825c1af2cdb28c8
More Linux vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2021-02452 Incorrect authorization in Ubuntu linux kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
Sources
- CVE-2026-99166 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-99166 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-6552-7g22-4qf3 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-99166 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences