CVE-2026-98303: ipv4: icmp: reject RTN_UNREACHABLE input routes in icmp_route_lookup

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: 2026-10-06 · updated 2026-10-19

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv4: icmp: reject RTN_UNREACHABLE input routes in icmp_route_lookup When the forward output route cannot be used in icmp_route_lookup(), it enters the "reverse path" and calls ip_route_input() on fl4_dec.daddr, the original packet's source address. ip_route_input() only returns an error for truly invalid packets. For unreachable addresses it will succeed and return an input route whose dst.output is set to ip_rt_bug(). The existing check only rejects RTN_LOCAL routes, so the RTN_UNREACHABLE route types can still be returned and later used for output, syzkaller triggering a WARN_ON_ONCE() in ip_rt_bug() as bellow: ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: net/ipv4/route.c:1273 at ip_rt_bug+0x14/0x20 RIP: 0010:ip_rt_bug+0x14/0x20 Call Trace: ip_push_pending_frames+0xfa/0x100 __icmp_send+0x905/0xf10 ip_options_compile+0xc0/0xd0 ip_rcv_finish_core+0x321/0xae0 ip_rcv+0x1de/0x260 __netif_receive_skb_one_core+0x11a/0x130 netif_receive_skb+0x7b/0x260 tun_get_user+0x11bf/0x1c10 ------------[ cut here ]------------ Reject input route that is RTN_UNREACHABLE to fix it. The net warning is only printed for RTN_LOCAL, as RTN_UNREACHABLE is not the result of a race condition.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 2.6.25 — fixed in 7.3

How to fix

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

References

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