IPv6 Tunnel Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

CVE-2026-98852

What is CVE-2026-98852?

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel affects the handling of tunneled IPv6 packets due to improper detection of extension headers. It stems from the flawed logic within the checksum offloading mechanism for encapsulated packets, which fails to consistently verify outer and inner headers properly. Specifically, during the processing of GSO packets, a mismanagement of skb->encapsulation states leads to malfunctioning checksum calculations and potential packet drops. This vulnerability poses risks by allowing improperly handled packets to traverse network interfaces, potentially leading to performance issues or exploitation scenarios.

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