esp: fix page frag reference leak on skb_to_sgvec failure
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-63872 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | Linux |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-07-19 15:16:54 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-07-20 15:16:53 UTC |
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: esp: fix page frag reference leak on skb_to_sgvec failure In esp_output_tail(), when esp->inplace is false, the old skb page frags are replaced with a new page from the xfrm page_frag cache. The source scatterlist (sg) is built from the old frags before the replacement, and esp_ssg_unref() is responsible for releasing the old page references after the crypto operation completes. However, if the second skb_to_sgvec() call (which builds the destination scatterlist from the new page) fails, the code jumps to error_free which only calls kfree(tmp). The old page frag references captured in the source scatterlist are never released: 1. sg[] is built from old frags via skb_to_sgvec() (no extra get_page) 2. nr_frags is set to 1 and frag[0] is replaced with the new page 3. Second skb_to_sgvec() fails -> goto error_free 4. kfree(tmp) frees the sg[] memory but old frags are not unref'd 5. kfree_skb() only releases frag[0] (the new page), not the old ones Fix this by adding a bool parameter to esp_ssg_unref() that, when true, unconditionally unrefs the source scatterlist frags without checking req->src and req->dst, since those fields are not yet initialized by aead_request_set_crypt() at the point of the error. Existing callers pass false to preserve the original behavior. The same issue exists in both esp4 and esp6 as the code is identical. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.5 HIGH from 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS: 0.001450000 probability, percentile 0.042080000 (date 2026-07-20)
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 | Secondary | 7.5 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
| 3.1 | CNA | DECLARED | 7.5 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
NoneScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
NoneAvailability
HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Linux | Linux | affected cac2661c53f35cbe651bef9b07026a5a05ab8ce0 e705b8ff4dd38fb8fe4e6fdc5378a86acea4feb5 git | Not specified |
| CNA | Linux | Linux | affected cac2661c53f35cbe651bef9b07026a5a05ab8ce0 2982e599fff6faa21c8df147d96fc7af6c1a2f24 git | Not specified |
| CNA | Linux | Linux | affected 4.11 | Not specified |
| CNA | Linux | Linux | unaffected 4.11 semver | Not specified |
| CNA | Linux | Linux | unaffected 7.0.13 7.0.* semver | Not specified |
| CNA | Linux | Linux | unaffected 7.1 * original_commit_for_fix | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| git.kernel.org/stable/c/2982e599fff6faa21c8df147d96fc7af6c1a2f24 | 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 | git.kernel.org | |
| git.kernel.org/stable/c/e705b8ff4dd38fb8fe4e6fdc5378a86acea4feb5 | 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.