CVE-2026-23124: ipv6: annotate data-race in ndisc_router_discovery()

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-02-14 · updated 2026-10-19
Weakness: CWE-362

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: annotate data-race in ndisc_router_discovery() syzbot found that ndisc_router_discovery() could read and write in6_dev->ra_mtu without holding a lock [1] This looks fine, IFLA_INET6_RA_MTU is best effort. Add READ_ONCE()/WRITE_ONCE() to document the race. Note that we might also reject illegal MTU values (mtu < IPV6_MIN_MTU || mtu > skb->dev->mtu) in a future patch. [1] BUG: KCSAN: data-race in ndisc_router_discovery / ndisc_router_discovery read to 0xffff888119809c20 of 4 bytes by task 25817 on cpu 1: ndisc_router_discovery+0x151d/0x1c90 net/ipv6/ndisc.c:1558 ndisc_rcv+0x2ad/0x3d0 net/ipv6/ndisc.c:1841 icmpv6_rcv+0xe5a/0x12f0 net/ipv6/icmp.c:989 ip6_protocol_deliver_rcu+0xb2a/0x10d0 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:438 ip6_input_finish+0xf0/0x1d0 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:489 NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:318 [inline] ip6_input+0x5e/0x140 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:500 ip6_mc_input+0x27c/0x470 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:590 dst_input include/net/dst.h:474 [inline] ip6_rcv_finish+0x336/0x340 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:79 ... write to 0xffff888119809c20 of 4 bytes by task 25816 on cpu 0: ndisc_router_discovery+0x155a/0x1c90 net/ipv6/ndisc.c:1559 ndisc_rcv+0x2ad/0x3d0 net/ipv6/ndisc.c:1841 icmpv6_rcv+0xe5a/0x12f0 net/ipv6/icmp.c:989 ip6_protocol_deliver_rcu+0xb2a/0x10d0 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:438 ip6_input_finish+0xf0/0x1d0 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:489 NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:318 [inline] ip6_input+0x5e/0x140 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:500 ip6_mc_input+0x27c/0x470 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:590 dst_input include/net/dst.h:474 [inline] ip6_rcv_finish+0x336/0x340 net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:79 ... value changed: 0x00000000 -> 0xe5400659

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.15 before 5.15.199; from 5.16 before 6.1.162; from 6.2 before 6.6.122; from 6.7 before 6.12.68; from 6.13 before 6.18.8; 6.19-rc1, 6.19-rc2, 6.19-rc3, 6.19-rc4, 6.19-rc5, 6.19-rc6 — fixed in 5.15.199, 6.1.162, 6.12.68, 6.18.8, 6.6.122

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.15.199, 6.1.162, 6.12.68, 6.18.8. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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