---
id: CVE-2026-98532
title: >-
  kernel: ipv6: do not let ipv6_find_hdr() return an offset past the packet end
  (CVE-2026-98532)
summary: >-
  A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. A remote attacker could cause a Denial
  of Service (DoS) or memory corruption by sending specially crafted IPv6
  network packets. The IPv6 extension header parsing mechanism fails to verify
  that the decl…
severity: high
cvss: 7.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cvssSource: vendor
cwe: CWE-787
vendor: Red Hat
product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
affected:
  - enterprise_linux 10
  - enterprise_linux 7
  - enterprise_linux 8
  - enterprise_linux 9
  - openshift_container_platform 4
  - enterprise_linux 6
published: '2026-10-18'
updated: '2026-10-24'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-24T14:22:52+00:00'
source: CSAF
sourceUrl: 'https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98532.json'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98532.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98532'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2554939'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98532'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98532'
  - url: >-
      https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98532.mbox
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca96b38730e31357ef4a9d76af1336958ac670d7'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/531255de8971c06d5d5986f85fdc2525d707ba71'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/543354c6efb27eae3372a3a9674aeaa2a86e2b2c'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dc92cb972e86790b8078337ec41015b748b8f8e5'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c70275ca87e769e1a52abc644d61372d8c016cb'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1d42828565889632068fbc2983c34d57c66af4e0'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4254d5878c320c19961dd0b8e1d0aca4800d8b7d'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee319bd3a0e976af5087cbe59ebc50a66f31d202'
tags:
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00613
epssPercentile: 0.49146
scores:
  vendor: 7.5
  cna: 8.1
ingestedAt: '2026-10-18T15:45:12.278Z'
---

## Overview

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. A remote attacker could cause a Denial of Service (DoS) or memory corruption by sending specially crafted IPv6 network packets. The IPv6 extension header parsing mechanism fails to verify that the declared length of a header fits within the received packet data, resulting in an offset that points past the end of the buffer. Subsequent networking operations that process this invalid offset perform out-of-bounds memory reads and writes, triggering a kernel crash.

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Important · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, … · updated 2026-10-24 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98532.json)

**kernel: ipv6: do not let ipv6_find_hdr() return an offset past the packet end** — rated Important by Red Hat. Released 2026-10-18, updated 2026-10-24.

Affected:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

No fix planned:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

## Remediation

Affected

Workarounds / mitigations:

- --- CME Mitigation Guidance (2026-10-20) ---
Disclaimer: The following mitigation solutions are provided as a courtesy, pending the application of an official patch. This content was generated utilizing AI tools in conjunction with data from https://cmetaxonomy.org. Customers are advised to independently evaluate and test these temporary mitigations within their own infrastructure.

The highest-value action is to enforce packet length bounds checks against skb->len within ipv6_find_hdr() extens…