In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: clear the dst when...

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: clear the dst when changing skb protocol

A not-so-careful NAT46 BPF program can crash the kernel
if it indiscriminately flips ingress packets from v4 to v6:

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
ip6_rcv_core (net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:190:20)
ipv6_rcv (net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:306:8)
process_backlog (net/core/dev.c:6186:4)
napi_poll (net/core/dev.c:6906:9)
net_rx_action (net/core/dev.c:7028:13)
do_softirq (kernel/softirq.c:462:3)
netif_rx (net/core/dev.c:5326:3)
dev_loopback_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4015:2)
ip_mc_finish_output (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:363:8)
NF_HOOK (./include/linux/netfilter.h:314:9)
ip_mc_output (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:400:5)
dst_output (./include/net/dst.h:459:9)
ip_local_out (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:130:9)
ip_send_skb (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:1496:8)
udp_send_skb (net/ipv4/udp.c:1040:8)
udp_sendmsg (net/ipv4/udp.c:1328:10)

The output interface has a 4->6 program attached at ingress.
We try to loop the multicast skb back to the sending socket.
Ingress BPF runs as part of netif_rx(), pushes a valid v6 hdr
and changes skb->protocol to v6. We enter ip6_rcv_core which
tries to use skb_dst(). But the dst is still an IPv4 one left
after IPv4 mcast output.

Clear the dst in all BPF helpers which change the protocol.
Try to preserve metadata dsts, those may carry non-routing
metadata.

Basic information

Type
unreviewed
Severity
medium
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Source code
Not specified
Published (advisory)
2025-07-04 15:31:09 UTC
Updated
2026-06-01 18:31:21 UTC
NVD published
2025-07-04

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.06% 19.53%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
5.5 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-476 NULL Pointer Dereference

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence