CVE-2026-31700: net/packet: fix TOCTOU race on mmap'd vnet_hdr in tpacket_snd()

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 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: 2026-05-01 · updated 2026-10-19
Weakness: CWE-362

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/packet: fix TOCTOU race on mmap'd vnet_hdr in tpacket_snd() In tpacket_snd(), when PACKET_VNET_HDR is enabled, vnet_hdr points directly into the mmap'd TX ring buffer shared with userspace. The kernel validates the header via __packet_snd_vnet_parse() but then re-reads all fields later in virtio_net_hdr_to_skb(). A concurrent userspace thread can modify the vnet_hdr fields between validation and use, bypassing all safety checks. The non-TPACKET path (packet_snd()) already correctly copies vnet_hdr to a stack-local variable. All other vnet_hdr consumers in the kernel (tun.c, tap.c, virtio_net.c) also use stack copies. The TPACKET TX path is the only caller of virtio_net_hdr_to_skb() that reads directly from user-controlled shared memory. Fix this by copying vnet_hdr from the mmap'd ring buffer to a stack-local variable before validation and use, consistent with the approach used in packet_snd() and all other callers.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 4.6 before 6.6.136; from 6.7 before 6.12.84; from 6.13 before 6.18.25; from 6.19 before 7.0.2; 7.1-rc1, 7.1-rc2 — fixed in 6.12.84, 6.18.25, 6.6.136, 7.0.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.12.84, 6.18.25, 6.6.136, 7.0.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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