CVE-2026-115449: Libslirp: libslirp: icmp echo reply length desynchronization leaks host ip to guest

Published Oct 22, 2026
·
Updated

A flaw was found in libslirp. When handling ICMP echo requests, the reply length is not updated to match the actual data received from the host. Under specific conditions where the normal ICMP socket is unavailable, this length mismatch causes the host's real IP address to be leaked to the guest in the echo reply, breaking the NAT isolation that user-mode networking is expected to provide.

Other sources

A flaw was found in libslirp's ICMP echo request handling. In the function icmpreceive() in src/ipicmp.c, after receiving an ICMP reply via recv(), the mbuf length (mlen) and IP header length (iplen) are not updated to reflect the actual number of bytes received. They retain the original echo request size.

When the SOCKDGRAM ICMP socket is unavailable (pinggrouprange restricted) and slirp falls back to a SOCKRAW socket, recv() can deliver ICMP error messages (such as Host Unreachable) instead of echo replies. These messages are shorter and contain an inner IP header with the host's real network address. The memmove path processes this data, and the stale mlen causes the inner IP header (including the host's real IP) to be included in the echo reply sent back to the guest. This breaks the NAT isolation that slirp user-mode networking provides.

The attack requires the guest to ping a nonexistent host on the hypervisor's local network while SOCKDGRAM ICMP is restricted (which forces the raw socket fallback). No authentication or special privileges are needed on the guest side.

The leaked information is the host's real IP address (4 bytes of network metadata), not arbitrary host heap memory as originally reported.

Upstream fix: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/slirp/libslirp/-/commit/262c9be27bc79e16b369807b460be77e23c3d788 Upstream issue: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/slirp/libslirp/-/workitems/105

Reported by: Piyusha Akash (manifoldoperations) via PSIRTSUPT-26209

— Red Hat

Affected Software

1 affected component
libslirp libslirp

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade libslirp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Patch 262c9be27bc79e16b369807b460be77e23c3d788

Event History

Oct 22, 2026
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·12:58 PM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
CVE Published
via MITRE·09:20 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·09:20 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness

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