CVE-2026-72035: net/sched: sch_taprio: Replace direct dequeue call with peek and qdisc_dequeue_peeked

Severity: high (CVSS 8.2 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-08-15 · updated 2026-10-19
Weakness: CWE-476

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: sch_taprio: Replace direct dequeue call with peek and qdisc_dequeue_peeked When taprio's software path peeks a non-work-conserving child qdisc, the child stashes the peeked skb in its gso_skb; taprio_dequeue_from_txq() then takes the packet with a direct child ->dequeue() call, which ignores that stash, orphans the peeked skb and desyncs the child's qlen/backlog. With a qfq child this re-enters the child on an emptied list and dereferences NULL, panicking the kernel from softirq on ordinary egress. Take the packet through qdisc_dequeue_peeked(), as sch_red and sch_sfb now do. The helper returns the child's stashed skb first and is a no-op when there is none, so a work-conserving child is unaffected and the gated path now consumes the skb whose length was charged to the budget.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 4.20 — fixed in 7.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 7.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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