CVE-2026-46320: tap: free page on error paths in tap_get_user_xdp()

Severity: high (CVSS 7.4 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-06-09 · updated 2026-10-19
Weakness: CWE-401

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tap: free page on error paths in tap_get_user_xdp() tap_get_user_xdp() rejects a frame shorter than ETH_HLEN with -EINVAL, and returns -ENOMEM when build_skb() fails. Both paths jump to the err label without freeing the page that vhost_net_build_xdp() allocated for the frame. tap_sendmsg() discards the per-buffer return value and always returns 0, so vhost_tx_batch() takes the success path and never frees the page; each rejected frame in a batch leaks one page-frag chunk. Free the page on both error paths, before the skb is built. This is the tap counterpart of the same leak in tun_xdp_one().

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 4.20 before 5.10.259; from 5.11 before 5.15.210; from 5.16 before 6.1.176; from 6.2 before 6.6.143; from 6.7 before 6.12.94; from 6.13 before 6.18.36 — fixed in 5.10.259, 5.15.210, 6.1.176, 6.12.94, 6.18.36, 6.6.143

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.259, 5.15.210, 6.1.176, 6.12.94. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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