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Response snapshot Oct 26, 2026, 21:51 UTC

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VulnerabilityCVE-2026-99077

Linux kernel: ipv4: udp: Create exceptions before socket matching

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv4: udp: Create exceptions before socket matching Currently, when ICMP Fragmentation Needed and Redirect Message packets are locally delivered and quote a UDP packet, a FIB nexthop exception (FNHE) is only created if the kernel can match the UDP packet to an existing socket.

Published Updated

At a glance

Exploited
Not known
Severity
7.4 High (CVSS 3.1)
Chance of exploitation
0.3% in the next 30 days
Sources
1 source

What to do

Check the vendor advisory for affected versions and fixes.

Read NVD CVE-2026-99077 (opens a new tab)

What happened

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

ipv4: udp: Create exceptions before socket matching

Currently, when ICMP Fragmentation Needed and Redirect Message packets are locally delivered and quote a UDP packet, a FIB nexthop exception (FNHE) is only created if the kernel can match the UDP packet to an existing socket.

This behavior allows off-path attackers to conduct a side-channel attack on the FNHE cache in order to discover the ephemeral port used by a connected UDP socket.

Continue reading

Commit 6457378fe796 ("ipv4: use siphash instead of Jenkins in fnhe_hashfun()") and commit 67d6d681e15b ("ipv4: make exception cache less predictible") tried to mitigate such attacks by making it harder for attackers to discover hash collisions in the FNHE cache and by randomizing the number of exceptions a hash bucket can hold, respectively. Unfortunately, both of the mitigations can be bypassed.

Instead, mitigate such attacks by always creating a FNHE, even before trying to find a matching socket. Do that by calling ipv4_update_pmtu() and ipv4_redirect(), the helpers used when the quoted packet did not originate from a socket.

This means that guesses (right or wrong) from an off-path attacker will always result in a FNHE being created or updated in the cache that the attacker can observe.

Pass an oif of 0, in a similar fashion to icmp_err(). This is also the oif used by the socket path for sockets that are not bound to a device.

Note that this does not allow attackers to create FNHEs that they could not create before, as both helpers can already be reached with little to no validation. For example, by sending an ICMP error that quotes an ICMP Echo Reply or one that quotes a UDP source port that matches a wildcard socket.

Also note that in the good case (matched socket) the above scheme comes at the cost of an extra route lookup, as the no socket helpers perform their own lookup before the one performed by ipv4_sk_update_pmtu() / ipv4_sk_redirect(). When the two resolve to different nexthops, it also results in two exceptions being created for the same destination IP.

One in the FNHE cache of the nexthop resolved by the no socket helpers and another in the FNHE cache of the nexthop used by the socket.

Scores and how they were measured

CVSS base severity

7.4

Version 3.1As of

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Measurement source (opens a new tab)

How bad it is if exploited. Not a prediction of exploitation or proof you are exposed.

EPSS probability

0.3%

Scored Percentile 25.0%

Model and measurement source (opens a new tab)

A model's estimate of exploitation in the next 30 days, not certainty or your own risk.

Related technology

Sources

  1. Primary source

    NVD CVE-2026-99077 (opens a new tab)

    NVD record: description, CVSS (the CNA score is preferred), affected products, and publication date. Not evidence of exploitation.

    Published Checked

  2. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  3. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  4. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  5. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  6. Primary source

    FIRST measured EPSS score (opens a new tab)

    Measured EPSS probability and percentile for CVE-2026-99077, scored 2026-10-26. This is a model estimate, not proof of exposure.

    Published Checked

Cite this record

For factual claims, cite the primary sources above; cite KEVWire for its compilation, dates, and classifications.

APA

KEVWire. (2026, October 26). Linux kernel: ipv4: udp: Create exceptions before socket matching (CVE-2026-99077). https://kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-99077

MLA

"Linux kernel: ipv4: udp: Create exceptions before socket matching (CVE-2026-99077)." KEVWire, 26 Oct. 2026, kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-99077.

Chicago

KEVWire. "Linux kernel: ipv4: udp: Create exceptions before socket matching (CVE-2026-99077)." Last modified October 26, 2026. https://kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-99077.

Evidence summary (plain text)

Linux kernel: ipv4: udp: Create exceptions before socket matching (Oct 23, 2026).
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ipv4: udp: Create exceptions before socket matching

Currently, when ICMP Fragmentation Needed and Redirect Message packets
are locally delivered and quote a UDP packet, a FIB nexthop exception
(FNHE) is only created if the kernel can match the UDP packet to an
existing socket.

This behavior allows off-path attackers to conduct a side-channel attack
on the FNHE cache in order to discover the ephemeral port used by a
connected UDP socket.

Commit 6457378fe796 ("ipv4: use siphash instead of Jenkins in
fnhe_hashfun()") and commit 67d6d681e15b ("ipv4: make exception cache
less predictible") tried to mitigate such attacks by making it harder
for attackers to discover hash collisions in the FNHE cache and by
randomizing the number of exceptions a hash bucket can hold,
respectively. Unfortunately, both of the mitigations can be bypassed.

Instead, mitigate such attacks by always creating a FNHE, even before
trying to find a matching socket. Do that by calling ipv4_update_pmtu()
and ipv4_redirect(), the helpers used when the quoted packet did not
originate from a socket.

This means that guesses (right or wrong) from an off-path attacker will
always result in a FNHE being created or updated in the cache that the
attacker can observe.

Pass an oif of 0, in a similar fashion to icmp_err(). This is also the
oif used by the socket path for sockets that are not bound to a device.

Note that this does not allow attackers to create FNHEs that they could
not create before, as both helpers can already be reached with little to
no validation. For example, by sending an ICMP error that quotes an ICMP
Echo Reply or one that quotes a UDP source port that matches a wildcard
socket.

Also note that in the good case (matched socket) the above scheme comes
at the cost of an extra route lookup, as the no socket helpers perform
their own lookup before the one performed by ipv4_sk_update_pmtu() /
ipv4_sk_redirect(). When the two resolve to different nexthops, it also
results in two exceptions being created for the same destination IP. One
in the FNHE cache of the nexthop resolved by the no socket helpers and
another in t
CVSS 7.4 (version 3.1; evidence as of Oct 26, 2026; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-99077).
EPSS 0.3% for the following 30 days, scored Oct 26, 2026 (https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-99077&date=2026-10-26).
Sources:
NVD CVE-2026-99077: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-99077
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?lastModStartDate=2026-10-26T15:50:57.770Z&lastModEndDate=2026-10-26T17:20:56.094Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=0
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?lastModStartDate=2026-10-26T15:21:00.016Z&lastModEndDate=2026-10-26T16:50:55.493Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=0
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?lastModStartDate=2026-10-26T14:51:04.037Z&lastModEndDate=2026-10-26T16:20:55.068Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=0
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?pubStartDate=2026-10-12T13:35:55.142Z&pubEndDate=2026-10-26T13:35:55.142Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=9000
FIRST measured EPSS score: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-99077&date=2026-10-26
Record ID: CVE-2026-99077.
Record origin: Ingested record.
AI evidence: Not assessed.
Known exploitation: Not assessed.
Zero-day status: Not assessed. KEV membership alone does not establish zero-day status.
About this data

This record was ingested from a data source. Retrieved: Oct 26, 2026, 19:40 UTC. Ingestion is not an independent editorial investigation.

NVD status: Received. Publication in the NVD is not evidence of exploitation.

A CISA KEV listing documents known exploitation, not necessarily a zero-day; absence from the catalog does not prove a vulnerability has never been exploited.

Technology tags indicate possible relevance, not verified exposure. Confirm the affected product, version, and configuration against your own inventory; KEVWire does not scan your systems.

A personal reading checklist on this device, not verified remediation.

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