CVE-2026-98021

CVE Details

Release Date:	2026-09-25
Impact:	Moderate	What is this?

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: reject oversized tx_queue_len at netlink parse time rtnl_create_link() assigns IFLA_TXQLEN directly to dev->tx_queue_len without going through netif_change_tx_queue_len(), so a device created with "ip link add ... txqueuelen 500000" bypasses the S16_MAX cap and still triggers the oversized ring allocations in pfifo_fast, tun and tap. The veth peer nest (rtnl_nla_parse_ifinfomsg()) and the RTM_NEWLINK-on-existing-device path reach the same sinks. Enforce the cap in ifla_policy instead: IFLA_TXQLEN becomes NLA_POLICY_FULL_RANGE(NLA_U32, &txqlen_range) with txqlen_range = { .min = 0, .max = S16_MAX }. All netlink consumers parse against this policy - rtnl_setlink(), rtnl_newlink() (create and change), and the veth peer nest - so every netlink path is capped at parse time and rejects the attribute with -ERANGE plus a proper "integer out of range" extack message before any device state is modified (the RTM_SETLINK half-application wart is gone with it). Document the bound in the rt-link.yaml netlink spec. Conditions to recreate the bug: - CONFIG_NET_SCHED=y, CONFIG_VETH=y, CONFIG_USER_NS=y, CONFIG_NET_NS=y. - Unprivileged user in a fresh user+net namespace (unshare -Urn): ip link add v0 txqueuelen 500000 type veth peer name v1 -> on the fixed kernel this is rejected with -ERANGE ("integer out of range" extack) instead of installing an oversized tx_queue_len that later inflates pfifo_fast/tun/tap ring allocations. - ip link set v0 txqueuelen 500000 is likewise rejected at parse time.

See more information about CVE-2026-98021 from MITRE CVE dictionary and NIST NVD

NOTE: The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.

CVSS v3 metrics

Base Score:	7.8
Vector String:	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Version:	3.1
Attack Vector:	Local
Attack Complexity:	Low
Privileges Required:	Low
User Interaction:	None
Scope:	Unchanged
Confidentiality Impact:	High
Integrity Impact:	High
Availability Impact:	High

Errata information

Platform	Errata	Release Date
Oracle Linux version 9 (kernel-uek)	ELSA-2026-500374	2026-10-07