CVE-2026-98550
tipc: reject invalid and unexpected GRP_ACK_MSG to prevent bc_ackers underflow
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
tipc: reject invalid and unexpected GRP_ACK_MSG to prevent bc_ackers underflow
Commit 48a5fe38772b ("tipc: fix bc_ackers underflow on duplicate
GRP_ACK_MSG") rejected duplicate/stale ACKs in tipc_group_proto_rcv()
by returning early when less_eq(acked, m->bc_acked).
However, that check remains incomplete in two ways:
1. When grp->bc_ackers is zero (e.g. on a quiet group, when replicast
ACKs were not requested, or after all expected members have already
acknowledged), an unexpected GRP_ACK_MSG with acked > m->bc_acked
passes less_eq() and unconditionally decrements grp->bc_ackers.
Because bc_ackers is a u16, this wraps to 65535, causing
tipc_group_bc_cong() to permanently report congestion and blocking
all future group broadcasts on the socket.
2. During an active broadcast round (grp->bc_ackers > 0), the sender
transmits packet S and advances grp->bc_snd_nxt to S + 1. Receivers
increment their expected counter to S + 1 upon consuming packet S,
so the only valid ACK value for the current round is strictly
acked == grp->bc_snd_nxt.
However, tipc_group_update_bc_members() initializes each member's
m->bc_acked to prev = grp->bc_snd_nxt - 1 (S - 1 before increment).
This leaves a 2-sequence gap (S - 1 to S + 1) in sequence space.
An incoming ACK is therefore neither rejected as duplicate nor
prevented from decrementing grp->bc_ackers if an unexpected or stale
value (such as S) is received. A member sending acked = S followed
by acked = S + 1 could decrement grp->bc_ackers twice in the same
round, prematurely clearing bc_ackers or underflowing it.
Fix this by:
- Dropping GRP_ACK_MSG immediately if grp->bc_ackers is zero.
- Requiring acked == grp->bc_snd_nxt and rejecting duplicates where
m->bc_acked == acked. Because replicast broadcast rounds are strictly
sequential, only grp->bc_snd_nxt can be acknowledged, and each member
can acknowledge at most once per round.
Note that a related pre-existing issue in tipc_group_delete_member()
(where grp->bc_ackers decrementing to zero upon member departure does
not restore *grp->open or trigger a socket wakeup) will be addressed
in a separate patch.
