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Critical · 9.6 CVE-2026-68124 EUVD-2026-55505GHSA-c8wc-v527-8f9g

mctp: serial: handle zero-length frames to prevent rx buffer overflow

Published Aug 10, 2026 · Updated Aug 19, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux Package: linux Package: linux-6.12 Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.14 Package: linux-aws-6.17 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-aws-6.8 Package: linux-aws-7.0 Package: linux-aws-fips Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.14 Package: linux-azure-6.17 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-6.8 Package: linux-azure-7.0 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.14 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.17 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.8 Package: linux-azure-fde-7.0 Package: linux-azure-fips Package: linux-azure-nvidia Package: linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 Package: linux-bluefield Package: linux-fips Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.14 Package: linux-gcp-6.17 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gcp-6.8 Package: linux-gcp-7.0 Package: linux-gcp-fips Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.14 Package: linux-hwe-6.17 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-hwe-7.0 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm Package: linux-ibm-6.8 Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-lowlatency Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia Package: linux-nvidia-6.11 Package: linux-nvidia-6.17 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia-7.0 Package: linux-nvidia-bos Package: linux-nvidia-lowlatency Package: linux-nvidia-tegra Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.11 Package: linux-oem-6.14 Package: linux-oem-6.17 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oem-6.8 Package: linux-oem-7.0 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.14 Package: linux-oracle-6.17 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-oracle-6.8 Package: linux-oracle-7.0 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-realtime-6.17 Package: linux-realtime-6.8 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.14 Package: linux-riscv-6.17 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-riscv-6.8 Package: linux-riscv-7.0 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Package: linux-xilinx Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mctp: serial: handle zero-length frames to prevent rx buffer overflow

The MCTP serial receive state machine reads a frame length byte in
mctp_serial_push_header() case 2 and validates it upper-bound-only:

if (c > MCTP_SERIAL_FRAME_MTU) {
dev->rxstate = STATE_ERR;
} else {
dev->rxlen = c;
dev->rxpos = 0;
dev->rxstate = STATE_DATA;
...
}

A length of zero passes this check, so rxlen is set to 0 and the state
machine advances to STATE_DATA. In mctp_serial_push() STATE_DATA, the
incoming byte is stored and rxpos incremented before the terminator is

dev->rxbuf[dev->rxpos] = c;
dev->rxpos++;
dev->rxstate = STATE_DATA;
if (dev->rxpos == dev->rxlen) {
dev->rxpos = 0;
dev->rxstate = STATE_TRAILER;
}

With rxlen == 0 the "rxpos == rxlen" terminator can never fire (rxpos is
already 1 on the first data byte), so subsequent bytes are written past
the end of the fixed 74-byte rxbuf, which is the last member of the
netdev private area. Every following data byte is an attacker-controlled
1-byte out-of-bounds heap write, and the overflow continues until a
frame (0x7e) or escape byte resets the parser -- effectively unbounded.

Reaching this requires CAP_NET_ADMIN to attach the N_MCTP line
discipline and bring the resulting mctpserialN netdev up, after which
the bytes arrive via the tty receive path.

Route a zero-length frame straight to STATE_TRAILER instead of
STATE_DATA. The trailer/framing bytes are still consumed, and the frame
resolves to a zero-length skb that the MCTP core rejects; the parser
never enters STATE_DATA with rxlen == 0, so the out-of-bounds write can
no longer occur.

KASAN, on a frame of 0x7e 0x01 0x00 followed by data bytes (before this
change):

UBSAN: array-index-out-of-bounds in drivers/net/mctp/mctp-serial.c:370
index 74 is out of range for type 'u8 [74]'
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in mctp_serial_tty_receive_buf
Write of size 1 at addr ... by task kworker/u16:0
mctp_serial_tty_receive_buf
tty_ldisc_receive_buf
flush_to_ldisc
Allocated by task 152:
alloc_netdev_mqs
mctp_serial_open

v2: route zero-length frames to STATE_TRAILER instead of STATE_ERR so
the trailer/framing bytes are still consumed (Jeremy Kerr).

Found by 0sec automated security-research tooling (https://0sec.ai).

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 5.17 6.1.183

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 7.1.6-1 —
Debian 13 linux 6.12.101-1 —
Debian 12 linux 6.1.187-1 —
Debian 12 linux-6.12 6.12.101-1~deb12u1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS linux-bluefield 6.8.0-1033.38 —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux 7.0.0-38.38 USN-8887-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-aws +1 7.0.0-1014.14 USN-8887-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure 7.0.0-1017.17 USN-8888-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 7.0.0-1016.16 USN-8888-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gke 7.0.0-1008.9 USN-8887-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-ibm +1 7.0.0-1015.15 USN-8889-1, USN-8887-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia 7.0.0-1025.26 USN-9043-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia-bos 7.0.0-2022.23 USN-9003-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-oracle 7.0.0-1013.13 USN-8887-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-raspi 7.0.0-1023.23 USN-9021-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-riscv +1 7.0.0-38.38.1 USN-8887-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux 6.8.0-147.147 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws +1 6.8.0-1067.70 USN-9024-1, USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws-7.0 +1 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1 USN-8887-3, USN-8887-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-7.0 7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1 USN-8888-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 6.8.0-1069.76 USN-8918-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-7.0 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1 USN-8888-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp +1 6.8.0-1071.79 USN-8918-1, USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gke 6.8.0-1066.74 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gkeop 6.8.0-1052.56 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-hwe-7.0 7.0.0-38.38~24.04.4 USN-8887-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-ibm 6.8.0-1067.68 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-lowlatency 6.8.0-147.147.1 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-7.0 7.0.0-1024.25~24.04.1 USN-9003-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 6.8.0-1067.70.1 USN-9040-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 6.8.0-1035.38 USN-8781-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle 6.8.0-1064.67 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle-7.0 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1 USN-8887-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-raspi 6.8.0-1068.72 USN-9025-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +29 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv-7.0 7.0.0-38.38.1~24.04.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-vmware 6.8.0-1008.8 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws-6.8 6.8.0-1069.74~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-6.8 6.8.0-1073.82~22.04.1 USN-9026-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-6.8 6.8.0-1071.78~22.04.1 USN-9026-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp-6.8 6.8.0-1073.81~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-149.149~22.04.1 USN-9066-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm-6.8 6.8.0-1069.70~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-149.149.1~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle-6.8 6.8.0-1067.71~22.04.1 USN-9025-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +33 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Show 5 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-raspi-realtime 6.8.0-2056.58 USN-9025-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime 6.8.1-1062.63 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.8 6.8.1-1064.65~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 6.8.0-1067.70+fips1 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-fips 6.8.0-147.147+fips1 USN-8917-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips +1 6.8.0-1071.79+fips1 USN-8918-1, USN-8917-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-64kb +7 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4254-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1.150700.17.45.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4254-1
Show 5 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-64kb +8 6.12.0-160000.38.1 SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.23 SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-64kb +8 6.12.0-160000.38.1 SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1, SUSE-SU-2026:23897-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.23 SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.23 SUSE-SU-2026:23887-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-rt +5 6.12.0-160000.38.1 SUSE-SU-2026:23887-1, SUSE-SU-2026:23881-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-default 6.4.0-150700.53.81.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4254-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_20 1-150700.1.3.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4120-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_21 1-150700.15.3.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4254-1
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 kernel-rt +2 6.4.0-150700.7.75.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4120-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.22 openSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-rt +11 6.12.0-160000.38.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1

Advisories 25

References