CVE-2026-46193: xfrm: ah: account for ESN high bits in async callbacks

Published May 28, 2026
·
Updated

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

xfrm: ah: account for ESN high bits in async callbacks

AH allocates its temporary auth/ICV layout differently when ESN is enabled: the async ahash setup appends a 4-byte seqhi slot before the ICV or authdata area, but the async completion callbacks still reconstruct the temporary layout as if seqhi were absent.

With an async AH implementation selected, that makes AH copy or compare the wrong bytes on both the IPv4 and IPv6 paths. In UML repro on IPv4 AH with ESN and forced async hmac(sha1), ping fails with 100% packet loss, and the callback logs show the pre-fix drift:

ah4 outputdone: esn=1 err=0 icvoff=20 expectedoff=24 ah4 inputdone: esn=1 authoff=20 expectedauthoff=24 icvoff=32 expectedicvoff=36

Reconstruct the callback-side layout the same way the setup path built it by skipping the ESN seqhi slot before locating the saved authdata or ICV. Per RFC 4302, the ESN high-order 32 bits participate in the AH ICV computation, so the async callbacks must account for the seqhi slot.

Post-fix, the same IPv4 AH+ESN+forced-async-hmac(sha1) UML repro shows the corrected offset (ah4 outputdone: esn=1 err=0 icvoff=24 expectedoff=24) and ping succeeds; net/ipv4/ah4.o and net/ipv6/ah6.o build clean at W=1. IPv6 AH+ESN was not exercised at runtime, and the change has not been tested against a real async hardware AH engine.

Affected Software

8 affected componentsFixes available
Linux Linux kernel
Linux Linux kernel>=3.15<6.6.140
Linux Linux kernel>=6.7<6.12.88
Linux Linux kernel>=6.13<6.18.30
Linux Linux kernel>=6.19<7.0.7
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc1
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc2
Microsoft azl3 kernel 6.6.139.1-1<6.6.141.1-1
6.6.141.1-1

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade to a fixed release to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.6.141.1-1

Event History

May 28, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·09:36 AM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·09:36 AM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·10:16 AM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityAffected Software
May 29, 2026
Data Sourced
via Microsoft·08:09 AM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Data Sourced
via Microsoft·08:09 AM
Affected Software
Updated
via Microsoft·08:09 AM
DescriptionSeverity

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2026-46193?

CVE-2026-46193 has been assigned a risk score of 27.

2

What software is affected by CVE-2026-46193?

CVE-2026-46193 affects the Linux kernel.

3

How do I fix CVE-2026-46193?

Fixing CVE-2026-46193 involves updating your Linux kernel to the patched version that addresses the vulnerability.

4

What are the implications of CVE-2026-46193?

CVE-2026-46193 may lead to security issues related to improper allocation of resources in the xfrm framework.

5

When was CVE-2026-46193 published?

CVE-2026-46193 was published on May 28, 2026.

Contact

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