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

bonding: refuse to enslave CAN devices

syzbot reported a kernel paging request crash in
can_rx_unregister() inside net/can/af_can.c. The crash occurs
because a virtual CAN device (vxcan) is being enslaved to a
bonding master.

During the enslavement process, the bonding driver mutates
and modifies the network device states to fit an Ethernet-like
aggregation model. However, CAN devices operate on a completely
different Layer 2 architecture, relying on the CAN mid-layer
private data structure (can_ml_priv) instead of standard
Ethernet structures. Since bonding does not initialize or
maintain these CAN structures, subsequent operations on the
half-enslaved interface (such as closing associated sockets
via isotp_release) lead to a null-pointer dereference when
accessing the CAN receiver lists.

Bonding CAN interfaces is architecturally invalid as CAN lacks
MAC addresses, ARP capabilities, and standard Ethernet
link-layer mechanisms. While generic loopback devices are
blocked globally in net/core/dev.c, virtual CAN devices
bypass this check because they do not carry the IFF_LOOPBACK
flag, despite acting as local software-loopbacks.

Fix this by explicitly blocking network devices of type
ARPHRD_CAN from being enslaved at the very beginning of
bond_enslave(). This prevents illegal state mutations,
eliminates the resulting KASAN crashes, and avoids potential
memory leaks from incomplete socket cleanups.

As the CAN support has been added a long time after bonding
the Fixes-tag points to the introduction of ARPHRD_CAN that
would have needed a specific handling in bonding_main.c.
Published: 2026-07-19
Score: n/a
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
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History

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 15:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bonding: refuse to enslave CAN devices syzbot reported a kernel paging request crash in can_rx_unregister() inside net/can/af_can.c. The crash occurs because a virtual CAN device (vxcan) is being enslaved to a bonding master. During the enslavement process, the bonding driver mutates and modifies the network device states to fit an Ethernet-like aggregation model. However, CAN devices operate on a completely different Layer 2 architecture, relying on the CAN mid-layer private data structure (can_ml_priv) instead of standard Ethernet structures. Since bonding does not initialize or maintain these CAN structures, subsequent operations on the half-enslaved interface (such as closing associated sockets via isotp_release) lead to a null-pointer dereference when accessing the CAN receiver lists. Bonding CAN interfaces is architecturally invalid as CAN lacks MAC addresses, ARP capabilities, and standard Ethernet link-layer mechanisms. While generic loopback devices are blocked globally in net/core/dev.c, virtual CAN devices bypass this check because they do not carry the IFF_LOOPBACK flag, despite acting as local software-loopbacks. Fix this by explicitly blocking network devices of type ARPHRD_CAN from being enslaved at the very beginning of bond_enslave(). This prevents illegal state mutations, eliminates the resulting KASAN crashes, and avoids potential memory leaks from incomplete socket cleanups. As the CAN support has been added a long time after bonding the Fixes-tag points to the introduction of ARPHRD_CAN that would have needed a specific handling in bonding_main.c.
Title bonding: refuse to enslave CAN devices
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Subscriptions

Linux Linux Kernel
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-07-19T14:56:11.111Z

Reserved: 2026-07-19T07:54:57.025Z

Link: CVE-2026-63990

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

No data.

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses

No weakness.