CVE-2026-99042: io_uring/net: populate CONNECT filter fields for 24-byte sockaddr_in6

Severity: high (CVSS 8.4 v3.1)
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: 2026-10-23 · updated 2026-10-24

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring/net: populate CONNECT filter fields for 24-byte sockaddr_in6 io_connect_bpf_populate() fills connect.port and connect.v6_addr for AF_INET6 only when addr_len >= sizeof(struct sockaddr_in6), i.e. 28 bytes. The IPv6 connect paths accept SIN6_LEN_RFC2133 (24 bytes), which already holds sin6_port and sin6_addr. io_connect() passes addr_len to the socket layer unchanged. At addr_len 24 the filter sees family AF_INET6 with port and address zero, while the kernel connects to the real destination. A filter that denies an IPv6 port or address is bypassed. Denying connect.port == P rejects [::1]:P with -EACCES at addr_len 28 but connects at addr_len 24. Use SIN6_LEN_RFC2133 as the threshold. sin6_scope_id stays zero when absent. The threshold mismatch was found by an AI coding assistant (Claude Code) comparing this hook against the net/ipv6 length checks on my instructions; it also drafted the reproducer and this patch. I verified the bypass and the fix in a VM on 7.3-rc6 and that 7.2 has the same code.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 7.2 — 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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