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CVE-2026-23276
net: add xmit recursion limit to tunnel xmit functions
Published 2026-03-20 (7 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem include/linux. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-23276 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | vulnerable | 6.1.190-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series bookworm tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for bookworm have historically landed a median of 23 days after publication. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixedDSA-6238-1 · 2026-04-30 · text | 6.12.85-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DSA-6238-1 shipped the fix on 2026-04-30, in 6.12.85-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 6.19.10-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.19.10-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 6.19.10-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.19.10-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
Tunnel xmit functions (iptunnel_xmit, ip6tunnel_xmit) lack their own recursion limit. When a bond device in broadcast mode has GRE tap interfaces as slaves, and those GRE tunnels route back through the bond, multicast/broadcast traffic triggers infinite recursion between bond_xmit_broadcast() and ip_tunnel_xmit()/ip6_tnl_xmit(), causing kernel stack overflow. The existing XMIT_RECURSION_LIMIT (8) in the no-qdisc path is not sufficient because tunnel recursion involves route lookups and full IP output, consuming much more stack per level. Use a lower limit of 4 (IP_TUNNEL_RECURSION_LIMIT) to prevent overflow. Add recursion detection using dev_xmit_recursion helpers directly in iptunnel_xmit() and ip6tunnel_xmit() to cover all IPv4/IPv6 tunnel paths including UDP encapsulated tunnels (VXLAN, Geneve, etc.). Move dev_xmit_recursion helpers from net/core/dev.h to public header include/linux/netdevice.h so they can be used by tunnel code. BUG: KASAN: stack-out-of-bounds in blake2s.constprop.0+0xe7/0x160 Write of size 32 at addr ffff88810033fed0 by task kworker/0:1/11 Workqueue: mld mld_ifc_work Call Trace: <TASK> __build_flow_key.constprop.0 (net/ipv4/route.c:515) ip_rt_update_pmtu (net/ipv4/route.c:1073) iptunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:84) ip_tunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c:847) gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779) dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887) sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802) bond_dev_queue_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:312) bond_xmit_broadcast (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5279) bond_start_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5530) dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4841) ip_finish_output2 (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:237) ip_output (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:438) iptunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:86) gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779) dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887) sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802) bond_dev_queue_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:312) bond_xmit_broadcast (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5279) bond_start_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5530) dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4841) ip_finish_output2 (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:237) ip_output (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:438) iptunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:86) ip_tunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c:847) gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779) dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887) sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802) bond_dev_queue_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:312) bond_xmit_broadcast (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5279) bond_start_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5530) dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4841) mld_sendpack mld_ifc_work process_one_work worker_thread </TASK>
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
include/linux/netdevice.h
include/net/ip6_tunnel.h
include/net/ip_tunnels.h
net/core/dev.h
net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c
- What this is
- NETWORKING DRIVERSMAINTAINERS section matched on include/linux/netdev* · netdev@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_INET /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this code. Every release below compiles the affected file into the kernels it ships.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sidy
- y
- built into the kernel image on every flavour - only a patch removes it
- Build switch
- CONFIG_INET
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-03-20 (7 months ago)source
- CVSS
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- 0.13%, higher than 2.4% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- include/linux
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 2.6.37 | 6.12.78 | 834c4f645726 |
| 2.6.37 | 6.18.19 | 8a57deeb2560 |
| 2.6.37 | 6.19.9 | b56b8d19bd05 |
| 2.6.37 | 7.0 | 6f1a9140ecda |
| 2.6.35.9 | 0 | 0 |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSA-6238-1 | 2026-04-30 | trixie 6.12.85-1 | tracker |
Why the CNA scored it this way
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-23276, which is why it is shown as unrated rather than given an invented score. 6,405 of the 20,413 CVEs here carry reasoning; this is not one of them.