CVE-2026-43244

MEDIUM EPSS 2.3%
Published May 6, 20261mo ago · Modified Jun 17, 20261w ago
5.5 CVSS 3.1
Medium
Find Similar
Published May 6, 2026 1mo ago
Last Modified Jun 17, 2026 1w ago

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kcm: fix zero-frag skb in frag_list on partial sendmsg error Syzkaller reported a warning in kcm_write_msgs() when processing a message with a zero-fragment skb in the frag_list. When kcm_sendmsg() fills MAX_SKB_FRAGS fragments in the current skb, it allocates a new skb (tskb) and links it into the frag_list before copying data. If the copy subsequently fails (e.g. -EFAULT from user memory), tskb remains in the frag_list with zero fragments: head skb (msg being assembled, NOT yet in sk_write_queue) +-----------+ | frags[17] | (MAX_SKB_FRAGS, all filled with data) | frag_list-+--> tskb +-----------+ +----------+ | frags[0] | (empty! copy failed before filling) +----------+ For SOCK_SEQPACKET with partial data already copied, the error path saves this message via partial_message for later completion. For SOCK_SEQPACKET, sock_write_iter() automatically sets MSG_EOR, so a subsequent zero-length write(fd, NULL, 0) completes the message and queues it to sk_write_queue. kcm_write_msgs() then walks the frag_list and hits: WARN_ON(!skb_shinfo(skb)->nr_frags) TCP has a similar pattern where skbs are enqueued before data copy and cleaned up on failure via tcp_remove_empty_skb(). KCM was missing the equivalent cleanup. Fix this by tracking the predecessor skb (frag_prev) when allocating a new frag_list entry. On error, if the tail skb has zero frags, use frag_prev to unlink and free it in O(1) without walking the singly-linked frag_list. frag_prev is safe to dereference because the entire message chain is only held locally (or in kcm->seq_skb) and is not added to sk_write_queue until MSG_EOR, so the send path cannot free it underneath us. Also change the WARN_ON to WARN_ON_ONCE to avoid flooding the log if the condition is somehow hit repeatedly. There are currently no KCM selftests in the kernel tree; a simple reproducer is available at [1]. [1] https://gist.github.com/mrpre/a94d431c757e8d6f168f4dd1a3749daa

CVSS Details

Base Score
5.5
Exploitability
1.8
Impact
3.6
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required Low
User Interaction None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality None
Integrity None
Availability High

Threat Intelligence

EPSS Exploit Probability
2.3% percentile
Exploit & Patch Status
No Known Exploit
Patch Available

Weaknesses 1

CWE-401

Affected Products 4

VendorProductVersionRange
linuxlinux_kernel*≥4.6  –  <6.12.75
linuxlinux_kernel*≥6.13  –  <6.18.16
linuxlinux_kernel*≥6.19  –  <6.19.6
linuxlinux_kernel7.0any

References 4

  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7af58f76e4b404a74c836881a845e6652db8a09f
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9ea3671d70ee07480d80bebe86696397c4e99fb7
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b1e3edf688a88c1a3ac41657055d9c136a08cd25
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca220141fa8ebae09765a242076b2b77338106b0
    Patch

Remediation

  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7af58f76e4b404a74c836881a845e6652db8a09f
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9ea3671d70ee07480d80bebe86696397c4e99fb7
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b1e3edf688a88c1a3ac41657055d9c136a08cd25
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca220141fa8ebae09765a242076b2b77338106b0
    Patch