CVE-2026-68322

Received Received - Intake

NULL Pointer Dereference in Linux Kernel RDS IPv6 Socket Binding

Publication date: 2026-08-10

Last updated on: 2026-08-19

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: rds: Fix inet6_addr_lst NULL dereference when IPv6 is disabled When booting with the 'ipv6.disable=1' parameter, inet6_addr_lst is never initialized because inet6_init() exits before addrconf_init() is called to initialize it. An attempt to bind an RDS socket to an ipv6 address results in a crash in __ipv6_chk_addr_and_flags() KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000008-0x000000000000000f] RIP: 0010:__ipv6_chk_addr_and_flags+0x1df/0x7e0 Call Trace: <TASK> ipv6_chk_addr+0x3b/0x50 rds_tcp_laddr_check+0x155/0x3b0 [rds_tcp] rds_trans_get_preferred+0x15d/0x2d0 [rds] ? trace_hardirqs_on+0x2d/0x110 rds_bind+0x1433/0x1d60 [rds] ? rds_remove_bound+0xd50/0xd50 [rds] ? aa_af_perm+0x250/0x250 ? __might_fault+0xde/0x190 ? __sys_bind+0x1dc/0x210 __sys_bind+0x1dc/0x210 ? __ia32_sys_socketpair+0x100/0x100 ? restore_fpregs_from_fpstate+0x53/0x100 __x64_sys_bind+0x73/0xb0 ? syscall_enter_from_user_mode+0x1c/0x50 do_syscall_64+0x34/0x80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0xd8 RIP: 0033:0x7f47f8269ea9 </TASK> The following code reproduces the issue: struct sockaddr_in6 addr; s = socket(PF_RDS, SOCK_SEQPACKET, 0); memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(addr)); inet_pton(AF_INET6, ADDRESS, &addr.sin6_addr); addr.sin6_family = AF_INET6; addr.sin6_port = htons(PORT); bind(s, &addr, sizeof(addr)); Found by InfoTeCS on behalf of Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.

CVSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-08-10

Last Modified

2026-08-19

Generated

2026-08-30

AI Q&A

2026-08-10

EPSS Evaluated

2026-08-29

NVD

CVE-2026-68322

EUVD

EUVD-2026-55423

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
linux	linux_kernel	*

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel occurs when IPv6 is disabled at boot using the 'ipv6.disable=1' parameter. The inet6_addr_lst structure is not initialized, leading to a null pointer dereference when attempting to bind an RDS socket to an IPv6 address. This causes a kernel crash due to a null pointer access in __ipv6_chk_addr_and_flags().

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability causes a kernel crash when binding an RDS socket to an IPv6 address with IPv6 disabled via 'ipv6.disable=1'. Check kernel logs for NULL pointer dereference errors in __ipv6_chk_addr_and_flags or RDS-related crashes. No specific commands are provided for detection as it requires system monitoring.

Impact Analysis

If you boot a Linux system with IPv6 disabled and use RDS (Reliable Datagram Sockets), attempting to bind an RDS socket to an IPv6 address will crash the kernel. This results in a system failure and potential denial of service.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability does not directly affect compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, or similar standards. It is a Linux kernel issue causing a null-pointer dereference when IPv6 is disabled, leading to system crashes. No data exposure or privacy violation is described.

Mitigation Strategies

Avoid booting with 'ipv6.disable=1' parameter. If IPv6 is not needed, disable it properly via kernel modules or sysctl. Update to a patched Linux kernel version where this issue is resolved. Monitor for RDS socket binding attempts to IPv6 addresses.

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