CVE-2026-120830
Description
A flaw was found in libslirp in icmp_forward_error(). When building an ICMP error response, the length of the quoted original IPv4 packet was taken from the IP header without clamping it to the actual buffer length. A truncated or malformed packet could cause an out-of-bounds heap read, leaking host memory into the ICMP error packet returned to a guest or container.
Mitigation
Red Hat is not aware of a practical temporary workaround that fully mitigates this issue or meets Red Hat Product Security's standards for usability, deployment, applicability, or stability. Customers are advised to apply the relevant security updates when/if they become available.
--- CME Mitigation Guidance (2026-11-04) ---
Disclaimer: The following mitigation solutions are provided as a courtesy, pending the application of an official patch. This content was generated utilizing AI tools in conjunction with data from https://cmetaxonomy.org. Customers are advised to independently evaluate and test these temporary mitigations within their own infrastructure.
The highest-value action is to clamp quoted IPv4 payload length to actual buffer bounds in libslirp icmp_forward_error before copying data into ICMP error responses: upgrade to the corresponding fixed Red Hat builds, which clamp s_ip_len to the source buffer length msrc->m_len before copying payload data into the ICMP error packet, closing crafted truncated IPv4 packets with ip_len exceeding mbuf length. Until patched, this is a concern on guests or containers transmitting network traffic through libslirp, so restrict untrusted guests or containers from transmitting network traffic across libslirp virtual network interfaces. These controls limit blast radius and contain exploitation, but they do not fix the underlying out-of-bounds heap read defect — apply the upstream patch to fully remediate.
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 | 7.4 | N/A | 7.4 |
| Attack Vector | Adjacent Network | N/A | Adjacent Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Changed | N/A | Changed |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | None | N/A | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
An attacker could get secret values such as cryptographic keys, PII, memory addresses, or other information that could be used in additional attacks.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
Out-of-bounds memory could contain memory addresses or other information that can be used to bypass ASLR and other protection mechanisms in order to improve the reliability of exploiting a separate weakness for code execution.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
An attacker could cause a segmentation fault or crash by causing memory to be read outside of the bounds of the buffer. This is especially likely when the code reads a variable amount of data and assumes that a sentinel exists to stop the read operation, such as a NUL in a string.
Other
Technical Impact: Varies by Context
The read operation could produce other undefined or unexpected results.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Piyusha Akash (Manifold Operations) for reporting this issue.
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