CVE-2026-97420 (GCVE-0-2026-97420)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2026-09-24 16:03
Modified
2026-10-03 10:58
Severity ?
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: NUL-terminate replaced sysctl value When writing to sysctls, proc_sys_call_handler() guarantees that the buffer passed to proc handlers is NUL-terminated. If bpf_sysctl_set_new_value() replaces the pending sysctl value, it can hand a replacement buffer directly to proc handlers. However, the helper currently copies only buf_len bytes into that buffer without appending a NUL terminator, leaving downstream parsers vulnerable to out-of-bounds access. Fix this by appending a '\0' after the replaced value to restore the expected sysctl semantics. Since the helper already rejects buf_len greater than PAGE_SIZE - 1, there is always room for the extra byte. Reproduced in a QEMU x86_64 guest booted with KASAN while exercising the sysctl replacement path with a cgroup/sysctl BPF program. The reproducer targets `/proc/sys/net/core/flow_limit_cpu_bitmap`, fills the original user write buffer with non-zero bytes, and overrides the sysctl value so the replacement buffer lacks a terminating NUL. Under that setup, the pre-fix kernel reported: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in strnchrnul+0x72/0x90 Read of size 1 at addr ffff88800de57000 by task repro_patch3/66 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 66 Comm: repro_patch3 Not tainted 7.1.0-rc3-00269-g8370ca1f87cc #6 PREEMPT(lazy) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x68/0xa0 print_report+0xcb/0x5e0 ? __virt_addr_valid+0x21d/0x3f0 ? strnchrnul+0x72/0x90 ? strnchrnul+0x72/0x90 kasan_report+0xca/0x100 ? strnchrnul+0x72/0x90 strnchrnul+0x72/0x90 bitmap_parse+0x37/0x2e0 flow_limit_cpu_sysctl+0xc6/0x840 ? __pfx_flow_limit_cpu_sysctl+0x10/0x10 ? __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x5ba/0x870 proc_sys_call_handler+0x31d/0x480 ? __pfx_proc_sys_call_handler+0x10/0x10 ? selinux_file_permission+0x39f/0x500 ? lock_is_held_type+0x9e/0x120 vfs_write+0x98e/0x1000 ... </TASK> The buggy address is located 0 bytes to the right of allocated 4096-byte region [ffff88800de56000, ffff88800de57000) With this fix applied, rerunning the same sysctl-targeted path yields no corresponding KASAN reports.
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Version: 32927393dc1ccd60fb2bdc05b9e8e88753761469
Version: 32927393dc1ccd60fb2bdc05b9e8e88753761469
Version: 32927393dc1ccd60fb2bdc05b9e8e88753761469
Version: 32927393dc1ccd60fb2bdc05b9e8e88753761469
Version: 32927393dc1ccd60fb2bdc05b9e8e88753761469
Version: 32927393dc1ccd60fb2bdc05b9e8e88753761469
Version: 32927393dc1ccd60fb2bdc05b9e8e88753761469
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{
  "containers": {
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          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
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              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
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      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
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      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nbpf: NUL-terminate replaced sysctl value\n\nWhen writing to sysctls, proc_sys_call_handler() guarantees that the\nbuffer passed to proc handlers is NUL-terminated. If\nbpf_sysctl_set_new_value() replaces the pending sysctl value, it can\nhand a replacement buffer directly to proc handlers. However, the\nhelper currently copies only buf_len bytes into that buffer without\nappending a NUL terminator, leaving downstream parsers vulnerable to\nout-of-bounds access.\n\nFix this by appending a \u0027\\0\u0027 after the replaced value to restore the\nexpected sysctl semantics. Since the helper already rejects buf_len\ngreater than PAGE_SIZE - 1, there is always room for the extra byte.\n\nReproduced in a QEMU x86_64 guest booted with KASAN while exercising\nthe sysctl replacement path with a cgroup/sysctl BPF program. The\nreproducer targets `/proc/sys/net/core/flow_limit_cpu_bitmap`, fills\nthe original user write buffer with non-zero bytes, and overrides the\nsysctl value so the replacement buffer lacks a terminating NUL. Under\nthat setup, the pre-fix kernel reported:\n\n  BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in strnchrnul+0x72/0x90\n  Read of size 1 at addr ffff88800de57000 by task repro_patch3/66\n  CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 66 Comm: repro_patch3 Not tainted 7.1.0-rc3-00269-g8370ca1f87cc #6 PREEMPT(lazy)\n  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014\n  Call Trace:\n   \u003cTASK\u003e\n   dump_stack_lvl+0x68/0xa0\n   print_report+0xcb/0x5e0\n   ? __virt_addr_valid+0x21d/0x3f0\n   ? strnchrnul+0x72/0x90\n   ? strnchrnul+0x72/0x90\n   kasan_report+0xca/0x100\n   ? strnchrnul+0x72/0x90\n   strnchrnul+0x72/0x90\n   bitmap_parse+0x37/0x2e0\n   flow_limit_cpu_sysctl+0xc6/0x840\n   ? __pfx_flow_limit_cpu_sysctl+0x10/0x10\n   ? __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x5ba/0x870\n   proc_sys_call_handler+0x31d/0x480\n   ? __pfx_proc_sys_call_handler+0x10/0x10\n   ? selinux_file_permission+0x39f/0x500\n   ? lock_is_held_type+0x9e/0x120\n   vfs_write+0x98e/0x1000\n   ...\n   \u003c/TASK\u003e\n  The buggy address is located 0 bytes to the right of\n  allocated 4096-byte region [ffff88800de56000, ffff88800de57000)\nWith this fix applied, rerunning the same sysctl-targeted path yields\nno corresponding KASAN reports."
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-10-03T10:58:12.202Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bfcee1f79aaefa90679ad47690107fb7682724ec"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c73e4a04eedc677fe91a736d7a5db45100adba5e"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36d3e9f62dc2beb9299d3bb6f589cb9e07f773fe"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/31377675c3d75603d957c08e338a9ac27e9f6cd5"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/76c14b10f50eb0afcc76e244562fa2d8c661e224"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b2814dd842a565fcf9cc370156e1ba9eae16239"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a66e3b5bacf38d6ab29fa05a9754f7a114485605"
        }
      ],
      "title": "bpf: NUL-terminate replaced sysctl value",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-97420",
    "datePublished": "2026-09-24T16:03:30.084Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-09-24T14:53:16.868Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-10-03T10:58:12.202Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}


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