CVE-2026-100236
Description
A flaw was found in the DPDK GSO library. When software GSO copies packet headers into a new mbuf, it does not check that the header fits in the source first segment or in the destination buffer, and a header longer than the configured GSO segment size can underflow the payload-size calculation. A remote or guest-supplied packet processed with software GSO can trigger an out-of-bounds read or write.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as having an Important severity because an unauthenticated remote attacker or guest virtual machine can cause heap memory corruption, leading to a process crash or potential code execution without requiring elevated privileges. The flaw affects environments using Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) applications where software Generic Segmentation Offload (GSO) processes packets from untrusted network sources or guest interfaces. Workloads that do not utilize software GSO or rely entirely on hardware-based segmentation offloading are not impacted by this issue.
Mitigation
Do not run software GSO (rte_gso_segment / testpmd --enable-gso) on untrusted packets. Size direct_pool larger than the max header (~208 B tunneled). That does not fully cover the short-first-segment over-read.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 8.6 | N/A | 8.6 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | Low | N/A | Low |
| Integrity Impact | Low | N/A | Low |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Memory; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
Write operations could cause memory corruption. In some cases, an adversary can modify control data such as return addresses in order to execute unexpected code.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
Attempting to access out-of-range, invalid, or unauthorized memory could cause the product to crash.
Other
Technical Impact: Unexpected State
Subsequent write operations can produce undefined or unexpected results.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Alexandru-Ionut Jipa for reporting this issue.
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