CVE-2026-23276

net: add xmit recursion limit to tunnel xmit functions

Published Mar 20, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 5.5 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: add xmit recursion limit to tunnel xmit functions

Tunnel xmit functions (iptunnel_xmit, ip6tunnel_xmit) lack their own
recursion limit. When a bond device in broadcast mode has GRE tap
interfaces as slaves, and those GRE tunnels route back through the
bond, multicast/broadcast traffic triggers infinite recursion between
bond_xmit_broadcast() and ip_tunnel_xmit()/ip6_tnl_xmit(), causing
kernel stack overflow.

The existing XMIT_RECURSION_LIMIT (8) in the no-qdisc path is not
sufficient because tunnel recursion involves route lookups and full IP
output, consuming much more stack per level. Use a lower limit of 4
(IP_TUNNEL_RECURSION_LIMIT) to prevent overflow.

Add recursion detection using dev_xmit_recursion helpers directly in
iptunnel_xmit() and ip6tunnel_xmit() to cover all IPv4/IPv6 tunnel
paths including UDP encapsulated tunnels (VXLAN, Geneve, etc.).

Move dev_xmit_recursion helpers from net/core/dev.h to public header
include/linux/netdevice.h so they can be used by tunnel code.

BUG: KASAN: stack-out-of-bounds in blake2s.constprop.0+0xe7/0x160
Write of size 32 at addr ffff88810033fed0 by task kworker/0:1/11
Workqueue: mld mld_ifc_work
Call Trace:
<TASK>
__build_flow_key.constprop.0 (net/ipv4/route.c:515)
ip_rt_update_pmtu (net/ipv4/route.c:1073)
iptunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:84)
ip_tunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c:847)
gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779)
dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347)
__dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802)
bond_dev_queue_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:312)
bond_xmit_broadcast (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5279)
bond_start_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5530)
dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
__dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4841)
ip_finish_output2 (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:237)
ip_output (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:438)
iptunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:86)
gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779)
dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347)
__dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802)
bond_dev_queue_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:312)
bond_xmit_broadcast (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5279)
bond_start_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5530)
dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
__dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4841)
ip_finish_output2 (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:237)
ip_output (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:438)
iptunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:86)
ip_tunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c:847)
gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779)
dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347)
__dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802)
bond_dev_queue_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:312)
bond_xmit_broadcast (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5279)
bond_start_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5530)
dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887)
__dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4841)
mld_sendpack
mld_ifc_work
process_one_work
worker_thread
</TASK>

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-6238-1 linux security update
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8567-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8574-1 Linux kernel (GCP FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8574-2 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8595-1 Linux kernel (Oracle) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8596-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8595-2 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8606-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8607-1 Linux kernel (Azure CVM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8608-1 Linux kernel (Azure FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8609-1 Linux kernel (Azure CVM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8574-3 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8595-3 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8619-1 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8665-1 Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-674
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-835
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-119
CWE-674
Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-119
CWE-674
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: add xmit recursion limit to tunnel xmit functions Tunnel xmit functions (iptunnel_xmit, ip6tunnel_xmit) lack their own recursion limit. When a bond device in broadcast mode has GRE tap interfaces as slaves, and those GRE tunnels route back through the bond, multicast/broadcast traffic triggers infinite recursion between bond_xmit_broadcast() and ip_tunnel_xmit()/ip6_tnl_xmit(), causing kernel stack overflow. The existing XMIT_RECURSION_LIMIT (8) in the no-qdisc path is not sufficient because tunnel recursion involves route lookups and full IP output, consuming much more stack per level. Use a lower limit of 4 (IP_TUNNEL_RECURSION_LIMIT) to prevent overflow. Add recursion detection using dev_xmit_recursion helpers directly in iptunnel_xmit() and ip6tunnel_xmit() to cover all IPv4/IPv6 tunnel paths including UDP encapsulated tunnels (VXLAN, Geneve, etc.). Move dev_xmit_recursion helpers from net/core/dev.h to public header include/linux/netdevice.h so they can be used by tunnel code. BUG: KASAN: stack-out-of-bounds in blake2s.constprop.0+0xe7/0x160 Write of size 32 at addr ffff88810033fed0 by task kworker/0:1/11 Workqueue: mld mld_ifc_work Call Trace: <TASK> __build_flow_key.constprop.0 (net/ipv4/route.c:515) ip_rt_update_pmtu (net/ipv4/route.c:1073) iptunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:84) ip_tunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c:847) gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779) dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887) sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802) bond_dev_queue_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:312) bond_xmit_broadcast (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5279) bond_start_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5530) dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4841) ip_finish_output2 (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:237) ip_output (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:438) iptunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:86) gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779) dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887) sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802) bond_dev_queue_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:312) bond_xmit_broadcast (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5279) bond_start_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5530) dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4841) ip_finish_output2 (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:237) ip_output (net/ipv4/ip_output.c:438) iptunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:86) ip_tunnel_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c:847) gre_tap_xmit (net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:779) dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887) sch_direct_xmit (net/sched/sch_generic.c:347) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4802) bond_dev_queue_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:312) bond_xmit_broadcast (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5279) bond_start_xmit (drivers/net/bonding/bond_main.c:5530) dev_hard_start_xmit (net/core/dev.c:3887) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4841) mld_sendpack mld_ifc_work process_one_work worker_thread </TASK>
Title net: add xmit recursion limit to tunnel xmit functions
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
Nov 5, 2026, 9:33 PM
Reserved
Jan 13, 2026, 3:37 PM
Status
Modified
Published
Mar 20, 2026, 9:16 AM
Modified
Nov 5, 2026, 10:18 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Mar 20, 2026, 12:00 AM