virtio_net: Fix UAF on dst_ops when IFF_XMIT_DST_RELEASE is cleared and napi_tx is false
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
virtio_net: Fix UAF on dst_ops when IFF_XMIT_DST_RELEASE is cleared and napi_tx is false
A UAF issue occurs when the virtio_net driver is configured with napi_tx=N
and the device's IFF_XMIT_DST_RELEASE flag is cleared
(e.g., during the configuration of tc route filter rules).
When IFF_XMIT_DST_RELEASE is removed from the net_device, the network stack
expects the driver to hold the reference to skb->dst until the packet
is fully transmitted and freed. In virtio_net with napi_tx=N,
skbs may remain in the virtio transmit ring for an extended period.
If the network namespace is destroyed while these skbs are still pending,
the corresponding dst_ops structure has freed. When a subsequent packet
is transmitted, free_old_xmit() is triggered to clean up old skbs.
It then calls dst_release() on the skb associated with the stale dst_entry.
Since the dst_ops (referenced by the dst_entry) has already been freed,
a UAF kernel paging request occurs.
fix it by adds skb_dst_drop(skb) in start_xmit to explicitly release
the dst reference before the skb is queued in virtio_net.
Call Trace:
Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address ffff80007e150000
CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 6236 Comm: ping Kdump: loaded Not tainted 7.0.0-rc1+ #6 PREEMPT
...
percpu_counter_add_batch+0x3c/0x158 lib/percpu_counter.c:98 (P)
dst_release+0xe0/0x110 net/core/dst.c:177
skb_release_head_state+0xe8/0x108 net/core/skbuff.c:1177
sk_skb_reason_drop+0x54/0x2d8 net/core/skbuff.c:1255
dev_kfree_skb_any_reason+0x64/0x78 net/core/dev.c:3469
napi_consume_skb+0x1c4/0x3a0 net/core/skbuff.c:1527
__free_old_xmit+0x164/0x230 drivers/net/virtio_net.c:611 [virtio_net]
free_old_xmit drivers/net/virtio_net.c:1081 [virtio_net]
start_xmit+0x7c/0x530 drivers/net/virtio_net.c:3329 [virtio_net]
...
Reproduction Steps:
NETDEV="enp3s0"
config_qdisc_route_filter() {
tc qdisc del dev $NETDEV root
tc qdisc add dev $NETDEV root handle 1: prio
tc filter add dev $NETDEV parent 1:0 \
protocol ip prio 100 route to 100 flowid 1:1
ip route add 192.168.1.100/32 dev $NETDEV realm 100
}
test_ns() {
ip netns add testns
ip link set $NETDEV netns testns
ip netns exec testns ifconfig $NETDEV 10.0.32.46/24
ip netns exec testns ping -c 1 10.0.32.1
ip netns del testns
}
config_qdisc_route_filter
test_ns
sleep 2
test_ns
This issue can be reached with local access to the system, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality high, integrity high, availability high.
CVE-2026-31469 is recorded against 2 packages.
Published on 22 April 2026 and last revised on 12 August 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.
cert-portal.siemens.com (Web)
cert-portal.siemens.com (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
github.com (Advisory)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
git.kernel.org (Package)
Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:
Details
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected Packages
| Software | From version | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| kernel | 6.19.0 | 6.19.11 |
| linux-kernel | — | — |
References
Similar Threats
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