In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
macvlan: fix error recovery in macvlan_common_newlink()
valis provided a nice repro to crash the kernel:
ip link add p1 type veth peer p2
ip link set address 00:00:00:00:00:20 dev p1
ip link set up dev p1
ip link set up dev p2
ip link add mv0 link p2 type macvlan mode source
ip link add invalid% link p2 type macvlan mode source macaddr add 00:00:00:00:00:20
ping -c1 -I p1 1.2.3.4
He also gave a very detailed analysis:
<quote valis>
The issue is triggered when a new macvlan link is created with
MACVLAN_MODE_SOURCE mode and MACVLAN_MACADDR_ADD (or
MACVLAN_MACADDR_SET) parameter, lower device already has a macvlan
port and register_netdevice() called from macvlan_common_newlink()
fails (e.g. because of the invalid link name).
In this case macvlan_hash_add_source is called from
macvlan_change_sources() / macvlan_common_newlink():
This adds a reference to vlan to the port's vlan_source_hash using
macvlan_source_entry.
vlan is a pointer to the priv data of the link that is being created.
When register_netdevice() fails, the error is returned from
macvlan_newlink() to rtnl_newlink_create():
if (ops->newlink)
err = ops->newlink(dev, ¶ms, extack);
else
err = register_netdevice(dev);
if (err < 0) {
free_netdev(dev);
goto out;
}
and free_netdev() is called, causing a kvfree() on the struct
net_device that is still referenced in the source entry attached to
the lower device's macvlan port.
Now all packets sent on the macvlan port with a matching source mac
address will trigger a use-after-free in macvlan_forward_source().
</quote valis>
With all that, my fix is to make sure we call macvlan_flush_sources()
regardless of @create value whenever "goto destroy_macvlan_port;"
path is taken.
Many thanks to valis for following up on this issue.
macvlan: fix error recovery in macvlan_common_newlink()
valis provided a nice repro to crash the kernel:
ip link add p1 type veth peer p2
ip link set address 00:00:00:00:00:20 dev p1
ip link set up dev p1
ip link set up dev p2
ip link add mv0 link p2 type macvlan mode source
ip link add invalid% link p2 type macvlan mode source macaddr add 00:00:00:00:00:20
ping -c1 -I p1 1.2.3.4
He also gave a very detailed analysis:
<quote valis>
The issue is triggered when a new macvlan link is created with
MACVLAN_MODE_SOURCE mode and MACVLAN_MACADDR_ADD (or
MACVLAN_MACADDR_SET) parameter, lower device already has a macvlan
port and register_netdevice() called from macvlan_common_newlink()
fails (e.g. because of the invalid link name).
In this case macvlan_hash_add_source is called from
macvlan_change_sources() / macvlan_common_newlink():
This adds a reference to vlan to the port's vlan_source_hash using
macvlan_source_entry.
vlan is a pointer to the priv data of the link that is being created.
When register_netdevice() fails, the error is returned from
macvlan_newlink() to rtnl_newlink_create():
if (ops->newlink)
err = ops->newlink(dev, ¶ms, extack);
else
err = register_netdevice(dev);
if (err < 0) {
free_netdev(dev);
goto out;
}
and free_netdev() is called, causing a kvfree() on the struct
net_device that is still referenced in the source entry attached to
the lower device's macvlan port.
Now all packets sent on the macvlan port with a matching source mac
address will trigger a use-after-free in macvlan_forward_source().
</quote valis>
With all that, my fix is to make sure we call macvlan_flush_sources()
regardless of @create value whenever "goto destroy_macvlan_port;"
path is taken.
Many thanks to valis for following up on this issue.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
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| Linux | Linux | affected |
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References
History
Sat, 14 Feb 2026 16:45:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: macvlan: fix error recovery in macvlan_common_newlink() valis provided a nice repro to crash the kernel: ip link add p1 type veth peer p2 ip link set address 00:00:00:00:00:20 dev p1 ip link set up dev p1 ip link set up dev p2 ip link add mv0 link p2 type macvlan mode source ip link add invalid% link p2 type macvlan mode source macaddr add 00:00:00:00:00:20 ping -c1 -I p1 1.2.3.4 He also gave a very detailed analysis: <quote valis> The issue is triggered when a new macvlan link is created with MACVLAN_MODE_SOURCE mode and MACVLAN_MACADDR_ADD (or MACVLAN_MACADDR_SET) parameter, lower device already has a macvlan port and register_netdevice() called from macvlan_common_newlink() fails (e.g. because of the invalid link name). In this case macvlan_hash_add_source is called from macvlan_change_sources() / macvlan_common_newlink(): This adds a reference to vlan to the port's vlan_source_hash using macvlan_source_entry. vlan is a pointer to the priv data of the link that is being created. When register_netdevice() fails, the error is returned from macvlan_newlink() to rtnl_newlink_create(): if (ops->newlink) err = ops->newlink(dev, ¶ms, extack); else err = register_netdevice(dev); if (err < 0) { free_netdev(dev); goto out; } and free_netdev() is called, causing a kvfree() on the struct net_device that is still referenced in the source entry attached to the lower device's macvlan port. Now all packets sent on the macvlan port with a matching source mac address will trigger a use-after-free in macvlan_forward_source(). </quote valis> With all that, my fix is to make sure we call macvlan_flush_sources() regardless of @create value whenever "goto destroy_macvlan_port;" path is taken. Many thanks to valis for following up on this issue. | |
| Title | macvlan: fix error recovery in macvlan_common_newlink() | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
|
Projects
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MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-02-14T16:27:31.175Z
Reserved: 2026-01-13T15:37:45.986Z
Link: CVE-2026-23209
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-02-14T17:15:58.803
Modified: 2026-02-14T17:15:58.803
Link: CVE-2026-23209
Redhat
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OpenCVE Enrichment
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Weaknesses
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