CVE-2026-46306

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: flow_dissector: do not dissect PPPoE PFC frames RFC 2516 Section 7 states that Protocol Field Compression (PFC) is NOT RECOMMENDED for PPPoE. In practice, pppd does not support negotiating PFC for PPPoE sessions, and the flow dissector driver has assumed an uncompressed frame until the blamed commit. During the review process of that commit [1], support for PFC is suggested. However, having a compressed (1-byte) protocol field means the subsequent PPP payload is shifted by one byte, causing 4-byte misalignment for the network header and an unaligned access exception on some architectures. The exception can be reproduced by sending a PPPoE PFC frame to an ethernet interface of a MIPS board, with RPS enabled, even if no PPPoE session is active on that interface: $ 0 : 00000000 80c40000 00000000 85144817 $ 4 : 00000008 00000100 80a75758 81dc9bb8 $ 8 : 00000010 8087ae2c 0000003d 00000000 $12 : 000000e0 00000039 00000000 00000000 $16 : 85043240 80a75758 81dc9bb8 00006488 $20 : 0000002f 00000007 85144810 80a70000 $24 : 81d1bda0 00000000 $28 : 81dc8000 81dc9aa8 00000000 805ead08 Hi : 00009d51 Lo : 2163358a epc : 805e91f0 __skb_flow_dissect+0x1b0/0x1b50 ra : 805ead08 __skb_get_hash_net+0x74/0x12c Status: 11000403 KERNEL EXL IE Cause : 40800010 (ExcCode 04) BadVA : 85144817 PrId : 0001992f (MIPS 1004Kc) Call Trace: [<805e91f0>] __skb_flow_dissect+0x1b0/0x1b50 [<805ead08>] __skb_get_hash_net+0x74/0x12c [<805ef330>] get_rps_cpu+0x1b8/0x3fc [<805fca70>] netif_receive_skb_list_internal+0x324/0x364 [<805fd120>] napi_complete_done+0x68/0x2a4 [<8058de5c>] mtk_napi_rx+0x228/0xfec [<805fd398>] __napi_poll+0x3c/0x1c4 [<805fd754>] napi_threaded_poll_loop+0x234/0x29c [<805fd848>] napi_threaded_poll+0x8c/0xb0 [<80053544>] kthread+0x104/0x12c [<80002bd8>] ret_from_kernel_thread+0x14/0x1c Code: 02d51821 1060045b 00000000 <8c640000> 3084000f 2c820005 144001a2 00042080 8e220000 To reduce the attack surface and maintain performance, do not process PPPoE PFC frames. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/r/[email protected]

CVSS v3.1 Score

7.5

HIGH

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

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0039

Probability of exploitation

0.31%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

References

Other References

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0d00b9015069712944934bab09eaa6c542143049 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/18ae9eacfc95cc715c0606b2c86e8aa8a86cf3e3 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6044392d9cace3a3672b02c8bc7d38b502e51734 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7c93f353eab4ea911e394630f07d72e040a729d8 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/abc5bc84e0f2edc7ea2d437afa6ef3fe1fc43200 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d6c19b31a3c1d519fabdcf0aa239e6b6109b9473 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db104b0d8a7856397c0469d83a4289adf7c54863 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e7c811ca372d53c2be7d01a1614e71fae1054836

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-46306? +

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: flow_dissector: do not dissect PPPoE PFC frames RFC 2516 Section 7 states that Protocol Field Compression (PFC) is NOT RECOMMENDED for PPPoE. In practice, pppd does not support negotiating PFC for PPPoE sessions, and the flow dissector driver has assumed an uncompressed frame until the blamed commit. During the review process of that commit [1], support for PFC is suggested. However, having a compressed (1-byte) protocol field means the subsequent PPP payload is shifted by one byte, causing 4-byte misalignment for the network header and an unaligned access exception on some architectures. The exception can be reproduced by sending a PPPoE PFC frame to an ethernet interface of a MIPS board, with RPS enabled, even if no PPPoE session is active on that interface: $ 0 : 00000000 80c40000 00000000 85144817 $ 4 : 00000008 00000100 80a75758 81dc9bb8 $ 8 : 00000010 8087ae2c 0000003d 00000000 $12 : 000000e0 00000039 00000000 00000000 $16 : 85043240 80a75758 81dc9bb8 00006488 $20 : 0000002f 00000007 85144810 80a70000 $24 : 81d1bda0 00000000 $28 : 81dc8000 81dc9aa8 00000000 805ead08 Hi : 00009d51 Lo : 2163358a epc : 805e91f0 __skb_flow_dissect+0x1b0/0x1b50 ra : 805ead08 __skb_get_hash_net+0x74/0x12c Status: 11000403 KERNEL EXL IE Cause : 40800010 (ExcCode 04) BadVA : 85144817 PrId : 0001992f (MIPS 1004Kc) Call Trace: [<805e91f0>] __skb_flow_dissect+0x1b0/0x1b50 [<805ead08>] __skb_get_hash_net+0x74/0x12c [<805ef330>] get_rps_cpu+0x1b8/0x3fc [<805fca70>] netif_receive_skb_list_internal+0x324/0x364 [<805fd120>] napi_complete_done+0x68/0x2a4 [<8058de5c>] mtk_napi_rx+0x228/0xfec [<805fd398>] __napi_poll+0x3c/0x1c4 [<805fd754>] napi_threaded_poll_loop+0x234/0x29c [<805fd848>] napi_threaded_poll+0x8c/0xb0 [<80053544>] kthread+0x104/0x12c [<80002bd8>] ret_from_kernel_thread+0x14/0x1c Code: 02d51821 1060045b 00000000 <8c640000> 3084000f 2c820005 144001a2 00042080 8e220000 To reduce the attack surface and maintain performance, do not process PPPoE PFC frames. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/r/[email protected] It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-46306? +

CVE-2026-46306 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.5 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0039, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-46306? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.