CVE-2026-98850: Linux kernel · net/packet: prevent TX_RING byte count overflow
Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.7 High.
Data as of 28 Oct 2026, 01:29 UTC
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Oct 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinuxpkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-awspkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azurepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure-fdepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gcppkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gkepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gke?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/packet: prevent TX_RING byte count overflow tpacket_snd() drains every SEND_REQUEST frame in a TX ring and adds each valid packet length to the signed int len_sum. Userspace can recycle completed frames concurrently, so a single blocking send call is not bounded by the ring size. After enough successful transmissions len_sum wraps into the negative range. In particular, 65536 65535-byte frames followed by a 65007-byte frame produce 0xfffffdef, or -EIOCBQUEUED. sock_sendmsg_nosec() treats that as an impossible return and triggers a BUG. On systems configured to panic on oops, a CAP_NET_RAW holder can panic the host kernel. Stop before the next frame would make the byte count exceed INT_MAX. The positive short count leaves that frame pending for a later send call. A two-thread TPACKET_V2 reproducer triggered the BUG on an arm64 build of Linux 7.3-rc4. With this change, the same reproducer returned the expected positive short count without an oops.
References
- ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-98850 (opens in a new tab)
- cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98850 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/69ca64bbb528898916f309552053c32a04a36ebc (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/9fd63d284e251332f4874ef9023cde472f315f86 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/2cf81fc9505b148b1b70068303ea6ea4b1212403 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/be12b221c0301111eeb023be04add3c6ad7c21fe (opens in a new tab)