CVE-2026-72020
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipvs: reset full ip_vs_seq structs in ip_vs_conn_new Commit 9a05475cebdd ("ipvs: avoid kmem_cache_zalloc in ip_vs_conn_new") changed ip_vs_conn_new() to allocate an ip_vs_conn object with kmem_cache_alloc(). The function then initializes many fields explicitly, but only resets in_seq.delta and out_seq.delta in the two struct ip_vs_seq members. That leaves init_seq and previous_delta uninitialized. This is normally harmless while the corresponding IP_VS_CONN_F_IN_SEQ or IP_VS_CONN_F_OUT_SEQ flag is clear. For connections learned from a sync message, however, ip_vs_proc_conn() preserves those flags from IP_VS_CONN_F_BACKUP_MASK and passes opt=NULL when the message omits IPVS_OPT_SEQ_DATA. In that case the new connection can be hashed with SEQ flags set but with the rest of in_seq/out_seq still containing stale slab data. When a packet for such a connection is later handled by an IPVS application helper, vs_fix_seq() and vs_fix_ack_seq() use previous_delta and init_seq to rewrite TCP sequence numbers. A malformed sync message can therefore make forwarded packets carry stale slab bytes in their TCP seq/ack numbers, and can also corrupt the forwarded TCP flow. Reset both struct ip_vs_seq members completely before publishing the connection. This matches the existing "reset struct ip_vs_seq" comment and keeps the sequence-adjustment gates inactive unless valid sequence data is installed later.
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
No mitigations published for this CVE yet.
The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.
Propose a mitigation on Community Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here withsource_tier=community-verified.
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2975324d164c552b028632f107b567302863b7f6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/32c299e28b8eea6cbbd23b97dc61401e9ef9c445
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3bf9a260188b2a5449cbddc032a749ab433fe328
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6335ab62d5fc9ed875279238233fba3462c168f5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6378c5cb360eb1750f88839d7c3613ea92ac1816
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83fb4c2c5344f02eac929f66de3c9d1adfcde04c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e36602cbec552286f7e691cfd366525c565ee74
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0eed7177e822cab83141e5c44b2aa345c7fd379
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.