CVE-2026-80792: ipv6: fix use-after-free in ip6_finish_output2()

Severity: unknown
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-09-04 · updated 2026-10-19

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: fix use-after-free in ip6_finish_output2() ip6_finish_output2() caches a pointer to the IPv6 destination address (daddr) before invoking lwtunnel_xmit(). The LWT-BPF transmit path or other encapsulation operations within lwtunnel_xmit() can reallocate the skb head, freeing the memory that daddr points to. When lwtunnel_xmit() returns LWTUNNEL_XMIT_CONTINUE, the function continues to use the stale daddr pointer to compute the nexthop and to look up or create the neighbour entry. This results in a use-after-free read, which can leak sensitive kernel data, pollute the neighbour table with arbitrary values, misdirect traffic, or crash the system. Fix this by re-fetching the IPv6 header and the destination address pointer after lwtunnel_xmit() returns LWTUNNEL_XMIT_CONTINUE, ensuring that the subsequent nexthop computation and neighbour lookup operate on valid memory.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.10.233 before 5.10.267; from 5.4.289 before 5.5; 5.15 — fixed in 5.10.267, 5.5, 7.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.267, 5.5, 7.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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