In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: mcast: use copy-on-write RCU updates in ip6_mc_source() pmc->sflist is read locklessly under rcu_read_lock() by inet6_mc_check() during packet reception in the U…

Overview

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

ipv6: mcast: use copy-on-write RCU updates in ip6_mc_source()

pmc->sflist is read locklessly under rcu_read_lock() by inet6_mc_check() during packet reception in the UDP and RAW multicast receive paths.

ip6_mc_source() mutated psl->sl_addr and psl->sl_count in-place when adding or removing a source filter. Additionally, when expanding the filter buffer, newpsl was published via rcu_assign_pointer() before writing the new source into the array.

Because 16-byte struct in6_addr writes are not atomic and array shifting is not synchronized with RCU readers, concurrent readers in inet6_mc_check() could read torn IPv6 addresses or observe duplicated/missed source entries.

Fix this by switching ip6_mc_source() to copy-on-write RCU updates: allocate and fully populate newpsl before publishing it via rcu_assign_pointer(), and reclaim the old filter via kfree_rcu(), matching ip6_mc_msfilter().

Also remove the now unused IP6_SFBLOCK macro.

Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.

Vendor advisories

• Red Hat VEX · Low · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · updated 2026-10-05 · vex