CVE-2026-98099
Received Received - Intake

RCU Pointer Update Missing in IPv6 Multicast List Handling

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-98099, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-09-25

Last updated on: 2026-09-25

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: mcast: use rcu_assign_pointer() for __rcu list updates Several places in net/ipv6/mcast.c update RCU-protected lists (np->ipv6_mc_list, idev->mc_list, idev->mc_tomb) using direct pointer assignments instead of rcu_assign_pointer(): 1. In __ipv6_dev_mc_dec(), unlinking a group from idev->mc_list did: *map = ma->next; without rcu_assign_pointer() while concurrent readers traverse idev->mc_list locklessly under rcu_read_lock(). 2. In ipv6_sock_mc_drop() and __ipv6_sock_mc_close(), unlinking a group from np->ipv6_mc_list directly assigned *lnk = mc_lst->next and np->ipv6_mc_list = mc_lst->next without rcu_assign_pointer(), racing with lockless readers in inet6_mc_check(). 3. In __ipv6_sock_mc_join(), mc_lst->next was initialized to np->ipv6_mc_list via raw assignment before publishing mc_lst. 4. In mld_del_delrec() and __ipv6_dev_mc_inc(), __rcu source pointers passed into rcu_assign_pointer() lacked explicit dereference helpers. Fix these by consistently using rcu_assign_pointer() along with mc_dereference() / sock_dereference().

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Meta Information

Published
2026-09-25
Last Modified
2026-09-25
Generated
2026-09-25
AI Q&A
2026-09-25
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel *

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability involves improper handling of RCU-protected linked lists in the Linux kernel's IPv6 multicast code. Instead of using the safe rcu_assign_pointer() function for pointer updates, direct assignments were made, which could lead to race conditions with concurrent readers accessing these lists under RCU read lock.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability involves improper RCU pointer updates in the Linux kernel's IPv6 multicast code. Detection requires checking kernel versions and examining the affected source files for direct pointer assignments instead of rcu_assign_pointer(). Use commands like 'uname -a' to check kernel version and 'grep -r "\*map = ma->next" /usr/src/linux/net/ipv6/mcast.c' to inspect the code for vulnerable patterns.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability could cause kernel memory corruption or crashes due to race conditions when modifying multicast group lists. It may lead to system instability, denial of service, or potential privilege escalation if exploited.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply the latest kernel security updates from your Linux distribution to patch the vulnerable code. If immediate patching is not possible, consider disabling IPv6 multicast functionality temporarily as a workaround, though this may impact network services relying on it.

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