net: skb: fix cross-cache free of KFENCE-allocated skb head
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-31429 |
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | Linux |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-04-20 10:16:16 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-04-20 10:16:16 UTC |
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: skb: fix cross-cache free of KFENCE-allocated skb head
SKB_SMALL_HEAD_CACHE_SIZE is intentionally set to a non-power-of-2
value (e.g. 704 on x86_64) to avoid collisions with generic kmalloc
bucket sizes. This ensures that skb_kfree_head() can reliably use
skb_end_offset to distinguish skb heads allocated from
skb_small_head_cache vs. generic kmalloc caches.
However, when KFENCE is enabled, kfence_ksize() returns the exact
requested allocation size instead of the slab bucket size. If a caller
(e.g. bpf_test_init) allocates skb head data via kzalloc() and the
requested size happens to equal SKB_SMALL_HEAD_CACHE_SIZE, then
slab_build_skb() -> ksize() returns that exact value. After subtracting
skb_shared_info overhead, skb_end_offset ends up matching
SKB_SMALL_HEAD_HEADROOM, causing skb_kfree_head() to incorrectly free
the object to skb_small_head_cache instead of back to the original
kmalloc cache, resulting in a slab cross-cache free:
kmem_cache_free(skbuff_small_head): Wrong slab cache. Expected
skbuff_small_head but got kmalloc-1k
Fix this by always calling kfree(head) in skb_kfree_head(). This keeps
the free path generic and avoids allocator-specific misclassification
for KFENCE objects. |
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|
| CNA |
Linux |
Linux |
affected bf9f1baa279f0758dc2297080360c5a616843927 60313768a8edc7094435975587c00c2d7b834083 git |
Not specified |
| CNA |
Linux |
Linux |
affected bf9f1baa279f0758dc2297080360c5a616843927 2d64618ea846d8d033477311f805ca487d6a6696 git |
Not specified |
| CNA |
Linux |
Linux |
affected bf9f1baa279f0758dc2297080360c5a616843927 474e00b935db250cac320d10c1d3cf4e44b46721 git |
Not specified |
| CNA |
Linux |
Linux |
affected bf9f1baa279f0758dc2297080360c5a616843927 0f42e3f4fe2a58394e37241d02d9ca6ab7b7d516 git |
Not specified |
| CNA |
Linux |
Linux |
affected 6.3 |
Not specified |
| CNA |
Linux |
Linux |
unaffected 6.3 semver |
Not specified |
| CNA |
Linux |
Linux |
unaffected 6.12.82 6.12.* semver |
Not specified |
| CNA |
Linux |
Linux |
unaffected 6.18.23 6.18.* semver |
Not specified |
| CNA |
Linux |
Linux |
unaffected 6.19.13 6.19.* semver |
Not specified |
| CNA |
Linux |
Linux |
unaffected 7.0 * original_commit_for_fix |
Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|
| git.kernel.org/stable/c/474e00b935db250cac320d10c1d3cf4e44b46721 |
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 |
git.kernel.org |
|
| git.kernel.org/stable/c/0f42e3f4fe2a58394e37241d02d9ca6ab7b7d516 |
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 |
git.kernel.org |
|
| git.kernel.org/stable/c/60313768a8edc7094435975587c00c2d7b834083 |
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 |
git.kernel.org |
|
| git.kernel.org/stable/c/2d64618ea846d8d033477311f805ca487d6a6696 |
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 |
git.kernel.org |
|
| CVE Program record |
CVE.ORG |
www.cve.org |
canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail |
NVD |
nvd.nist.gov |
canonical, analysis |
No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.