---
id: CVE-2026-98852
title: 'net: extend IPv6 exthdr detection of tunneled packets'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net: extend IPv6 exthdr detection of tunneled packets

  Commit c4336a07eb6b ("net: correctly handle tunneled traffic on IPV6_CSUM
  GSO fallback") split skb_gso_has_extens…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 33670f780e0120c3dacda188c512bbffe0b6044c <
    44ba9dc568c878b699d05e7cf699572dc9df4b59
  - >-
    Linux >= a98b78116a27e2a57b696b569b2cb431c95cf9b6 <
    aa480f05aed7a9eee87d4a6fc90647fe9679c670
  - >-
    Linux >= c4336a07eb6b2526dc2b62928b5104b41a7f81f5 <
    cabacdf98e09eb74599c4d97d7bd7fd659598fb7
  - >-
    Linux >= c4336a07eb6b2526dc2b62928b5104b41a7f81f5 <
    5f0764cb1c81a9712bce605d38efe6d844a70b29
  - Linux 2094a7cf91b71367b649f991aacc7b579f793d0b
  - Linux ed71cf465c75f5688b07a35d373cd1d6b589c8ea
  - Linux 732fdeb2987c94b439d51f5cb9addddc2fc48c42
  - Linux >= 6.12.81 < 6.12.113
  - Linux >= 6.18.22 < 6.18.56
  - Linux >= 6.1.168 < 6.2
  - Linux >= 6.6.134 < 6.7
  - Linux >= 6.19.12 < 6.20
  - Linux 7.0
published: '2026-10-18'
updated: '2026-10-18'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-18T15:50:55.946Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98852'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/44ba9dc568c878b699d05e7cf699572dc9df4b59'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa480f05aed7a9eee87d4a6fc90647fe9679c670'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cabacdf98e09eb74599c4d97d7bd7fd659598fb7'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5f0764cb1c81a9712bce605d38efe6d844a70b29'
tags:
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-10-18T16:47:32.463Z'
---

## Overview

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

net: extend IPv6 exthdr detection of tunneled packets

Commit c4336a07eb6b ("net: correctly handle tunneled traffic on IPV6_CSUM
GSO fallback") split skb_gso_has_extension_hdr() into mutually exclusive
branches on skb->encapsulation. This did not yet address all paths:

1. With skb->encapsulation set, the outer header is not checked. IPv6
   tunnels such as ip6_gre and ip6_tunnel add an outer Destination
   Options header by default (encap_limit). Their GSO packets skip
   software GSO, then skb_csum_hwoffload_help() sees the outer extension
   header and calls skb_checksum_help() on the GSO skb, which warns and
   drops it.

2. Tunnels over IPv6 without an outer transport header, such as
   ip6_tunnel, leave skb->transport_header at the inner transport
   header. skb_network_header_len() then spans the outer IPv6, tunnel
   and inner IP headers, a false positive.

3. UDP tunnels without an inner network header, such as SCTP-in-UDP or
   PSP, have no inner IPv6 header to check. Decide on the outer header
   alone.

4. Directly dereferencing inner_ip_hdr(skb)->version without
   skb_header_pointer() is unsafe.

Instead, check ipv6_ext_hdr(nexthdr) on the outer IPv6 header and, if
set, on the inner IPv6 header. Read the headers with skb_header_pointer().
Keep the skb_network_header_len() check when !skb->encapsulation to also
catch encapsulated packets without skb->encapsulation (e.g., virtio).

Use the same helper in skb_csum_hwoffload_help(). Its open coded test
has the false positive of (2) and ignores the inner header.

Background: checksum offload of tunneled packets invariants:

Non-GSO skb:
- If the inner packet is CHECKSUM_PARTIAL, Local Checksum Offload computes
  the outer checksum in software and the device offloads only the inner L4
  checksum.
- If the inner packet is CHECKSUM_NONE (e.g., SCTP-in-UDP, ESP-in-UDP,
  Remote Checksum Offload), the device offloads the outer UDP or GRE
  checksum instead.

GSO skb:
- A device with NETIF_F_GSO_UDP_TUNNEL_CSUM or NETIF_F_GSO_GRE_CSUM
  computes both inner and outer checksums per segment.
  The outer checksum is seeded with only the pseudo-header checksum.

A NETIF_F_IPV6_CSUM device must parse through the outer headers to
reach the inner ones.

## Affected

- `Linux >= 33670f780e0120c3dacda188c512bbffe0b6044c < 44ba9dc568c878b699d05e7cf699572dc9df4b59`
- `Linux >= a98b78116a27e2a57b696b569b2cb431c95cf9b6 < aa480f05aed7a9eee87d4a6fc90647fe9679c670`
- `Linux >= c4336a07eb6b2526dc2b62928b5104b41a7f81f5 < cabacdf98e09eb74599c4d97d7bd7fd659598fb7`
- `Linux >= c4336a07eb6b2526dc2b62928b5104b41a7f81f5 < 5f0764cb1c81a9712bce605d38efe6d844a70b29`
- `Linux 2094a7cf91b71367b649f991aacc7b579f793d0b`
- `Linux ed71cf465c75f5688b07a35d373cd1d6b589c8ea`
- `Linux 732fdeb2987c94b439d51f5cb9addddc2fc48c42`
- `Linux >= 6.12.81 < 6.12.113`
- `Linux >= 6.18.22 < 6.18.56`
- `Linux >= 6.1.168 < 6.2`
- `Linux >= 6.6.134 < 6.7`
- `Linux >= 6.19.12 < 6.20`
- `Linux 7.0`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.