Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3 TCP IPv6 Reception net/ipv4/af_inet.c tcp_v6_do_rcv sk_forward_alloc race condition

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3. This affects the function tcp_v6_do_rcv of the file net/ipv4/af_inet.c of the component TCP IPv6 Reception. The manipulation of the argument sk_forward_alloc leads to race condition. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2026-98300. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.3-rc3. This issue affects the function tcp_v6_do_rcv of the file net/ipv4/af_inet.c of the component TCP IPv6 Reception. The manipulation of the argument sk_forward_alloc with an unknown input leads to a race condition vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-362. The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tcp: Don't call skb_clone_and_charge_r() for close()d listener in tcp_v6_do_rcv(). tcp_v6_do_rcv() no longer calls skb_clone_and_charge_r() for TCP_LISTEN since commit 073d89808c06 ("net: fix data-races around sk->sk_forward_alloc"). However, there is still a small race window between tcp_v6_rcv() and tcp_v6_do_rcv(), where concurrent close() changes TCP_LISTEN to TCP_CLOSE, causing skb_clone_and_charge_r() to be called locklessly and resulting in the splat below. [0] Let's avoid calling skb_clone_and_charge_r() for TCP_CLOSE as well. This is fine for non-listeners because tcp_rcv_state_process() drops skb for TCP_CLOSE and opt_skb was freed immediately anyway. [0]: sk->sk_forward_alloc WARNING: net/ipv4/af_inet.c:162 at inet_sock_destruct+0x64d/0x810 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:162, CPU#1: ksoftirqd/1/28 Modules linked in: CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 28 Comm: ksoftirqd/1 Not tainted 7.2.0 #17 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.17.0-debian-1.17.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:inet_sock_destruct+0x64d/0x810 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:162 Code: 3d 49 ff e9 06 fd ff ff e8 d0 5b 83 f8 90 0f 0b 90 e9 35 fe ff ff e8 c2 5b 83 f8 90 0f 0b 90 e9 c5 fe ff ff e8 b4 5b 83 f8 90 <0f> 0b 90 e9 04 ff ff ff e8 a6 5b 83 f8 90 0f 0b 90 e9 65 fe ff ff RSP: 0018:ffffc90000677bb8 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8880117bde80 RCX: ffffffff8957eb41 RDX: ffff88801dad5d00 RSI: ffffffff8957ec3c RDI: 0000000000000005 RBP: 00000000fffff000 R08: ffffffff8957eb41 R09: 00000000fffff000 R10: 0000000000000005 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: dffffc0000000000 R13: ffff8880117bdf10 R14: ffffffff81c08eb7 R15: 0000000000000003 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880d7ae5000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f93a1021138 CR3: 00000000207a9000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0 Call Trace: <TASK> __sk_destruct+0x82/0xae0 net/core/sock.c:2356 rcu_do_batch kernel/rcu/tree.c:2645 [inline] rcu_core+0x59c/0x1100 kernel/rcu/tree.c:2897 handle_softirqs+0x1e4/0x9b0 kernel/softirq.c:622 run_ksoftirqd kernel/softirq.c:1076 [inline] run_ksoftirqd+0x38/0x60 kernel/softirq.c:1068 smpboot_thread_fn+0x458/0xc80 kernel/smpboot.c:160 kthread+0x396/0x4a0 kernel/kthread.c:436 ret_from_fork+0x8e0/0xe40 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245 </TASK>

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-98300 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/06/2026).

Upgrading to version 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.54, 7.2.8 or 7.3-rc4 eliminates this vulnerability.

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.270
• 5.15.221
• 6.1.188
• 6.6.157
• 6.12.111
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 6.18.52
• 6.18.53
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2
• 7.3-rc3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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