Linux Kernel up to 7.2.9/7.3-rc5 seg6 advance_nextseg/seg6_next_csid_advance_arg race condition

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as very critical has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.9/7.3-rc5. Impacted is the function advance_nextseg/seg6_next_csid_advance_arg of the component seg6. Such manipulation leads to race condition. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-98802. The attack can be launched remotely. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.9/7.3-rc5 and classified as very critical. Affected by this issue is the function advance_nextseg/seg6_next_csid_advance_arg of the component seg6. The manipulation 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. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: seg6: ensure packet data is writable before modifying SRH and IPv6 DA advance_nextseg() modifies the SRH Segments Left field and the IPv6 destination address without ensuring the packet data is writable. seg6_next_csid_advance_arg() has the same problem when it advances the NEXT-C-SID argument in the destination address. The skb may be cloned, for example by an AF_PACKET socket receiving on the ingress device. advance_nextseg() and seg6_next_csid_advance_arg() then write into the packet data shared with the clone. A read from that socket can return the modified packet instead of the received one. The simplified path below shows this for advance_nextseg(): __netif_receive_skb_one_core __netif_receive_skb_core deliver_skb [orig: users=2, cloned=0] packet_rcv skb_clone clone queued to the AF_PACKET socket consume_skb(orig) [orig: users=1, cloned=1] ipv6_rcv ip6_rcv_core skb_share_check: no-op [orig: users=1] [...] input_action_end_core advance_nextseg writes into the data shared with the clone Call skb_ensure_writable() in advance_nextseg() and in seg6_next_csid_advance_arg() before they modify the packet data. skb_ensure_writable() may reallocate skb->head, which invalidates the pointers into the packet data taken before the call. advance_nextseg() now returns a valid SRH pointer, or NULL if skb_ensure_writable() fails. seg6_next_csid_advance_arg() takes the pointer to the destination address from the skb after skb_ensure_writable(). On failure, the callers drop the packet with SKB_DROP_REASON_NOMEM.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-98802 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. No form of authentication is required for exploitation. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/18/2026).

Upgrading to version 7.2.10 or 7.3-rc6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch e9141fdb7a2ead48cfcd60c681aba91d3014255b/8ae3f4067ba4ae3a15581392f6dac422e3d3def0 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.2.8
• 7.2.9
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2
• 7.3-rc3
• 7.3-rc4
• 7.3-rc5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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