CVE-2026-64531 Details
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: openvswitch: reject oversized nested action attrs Open vSwitch stores generated flow actions as nlattrs, whose nla_len field is u16. Commit a1e64addf3ff ("net: openvswitch: remove misbehaving actions length check") allowed the total sw_flow_actions stream to grow beyond 64 KiB, which is valid, but also removed the last guard preventing a generated nested action attribute from exceeding U16_MAX. An oversized generated container can thus be closed with a truncated nla_len. A later dump or teardown then walks a structurally different stream than the one that was validated. In particular, an oversized nested CLONE/CT action may cause subsequent bytes in the generated stream to be interpreted as independent actions. Keep the larger total-action-stream behavior, but make nested action close reject generated containers that do not fit in nla_len, and return the error through all callers. For recursive SAMPLE, CLONE, DEC_TTL, and CHECK_PKT_LEN builders, trim resource-owning action-list tails in reverse construction order before discarding failed wrappers, so resources copied into the rejected tails are released before the wrappers are removed. Most failed outer wrappers are discarded by truncating actions_len after child resources have been released. CHECK_PKT_LEN also trims its parent after branch resources are gone. SET/TUNNEL close failures unwind their known tun_dst ownership directly, and SET_TO_MASKED has no external ownership and truncates on close failure.
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's Open vSwitch component allows for improper handling of oversized nested action attributes. This issue arises because Open vSwitch stores flow actions as netlink attributes (nlattrs) with a length field that can only accommodate values up to 65,535. A previous commit removed a crucial length validation, enabling the total action stream to exceed 64 KiB and potentially allowing nested attributes to be larger than the maximum permitted size. As a result, an oversized attribute can be closed with a truncated length, leading to a mismatch when the data is processed later. This vulnerability could be exploited by crafting specific actions that take advantage of the flawed length handling, particularly by using oversized CLONE/Connection Tracking actions to disrupt the interpretation of subsequent actions in the stream.
Users can apply the latest patches available in the Linux kernel stable tree to address this vulnerability. Instructions for downloading the patched version can be found in the Linux kernel documentation.
Metrics
CVSS 4.0 Severity and Vector Strings:
No CVSS 4.0 data is available for this CVE.
CVSS 3.x Severity and Vector Strings:
No data available for CVSS Version 2.0 on this CVE.
No SSVC data is available for this CVE.
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Weakness Enumeration
No weakness enumeration is available for this CVE.
Affected Products
No affected product data is available for this CVE.
Change History
7 change records found show changes
| Date | Action | Recorded By |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 22, 2026 | CVE Modified | CVE |
| Aug 17, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Aug 1, 2026 | CVE Modified | CVE |
| Aug 1, 2026 | CVE Modified | CVE |
| Jul 30, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Jul 28, 2026 | CVE Modified | CVE |
| Jul 27, 2026 | New CVE Received | kernel.org |