CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2026-23398 — Linux Linux Kernel security vulnerability

Medium CVSS 5.5

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: icmp: fix NULL pointer dereference in icmp_tag_validation() icmp_tag_validation() unconditionally dereferences the result of rcu_dereference(inet_protos[proto]) without checking for NULL. The inet_protos[] array is sparse -- only about 15 of 256 protocol numbers have registered handlers. When ip_no_pmtu_disc is set to 3 (hardened PMTU mode) and the kernel receives an ICMP Fragmentation Needed error with a quoted inner IP header containing an unregistered protocol number, the NULL dereference causes a kernel panic in softirq context. Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000002: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000010-0x0000000000000017] RIP: 0010:icmp_unreach (net/ipv4/icmp.c:1085 net/ipv4/icmp.c:1143) Call Trace: <IRQ> icmp_rcv (net/ipv4/icmp.c:1527) ip_protocol_deliver_rcu (net/ipv4/ip_input.c:207) ip_local_deliver_finish (net/ipv4/ip_input.c:242) ip_local_deliver (net/ipv4/ip_input.c:262) ip_rcv (net/ipv4/ip_input.c:573) __netif_receive_skb_one_core (net/core/dev.c:6164) process_backlog (net/core/dev.c:6628) handle_softirqs (kernel/so…

Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.5 (3.1)
Published
2026-03-26
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
linux/kernel
Weaknesses
CWE-476

Affected products

  • linux / linux_kernel
  • linux / linux_kernel / 3.14
  • linux / linux_kernel / 7.0

Showing 3 representative product identities from 15 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Buffer bounds, memory safety, and memory corruption

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Identify affected native-code versions, build flags, architectures, parsers, codecs, drivers, and input paths in all shipped artifacts.
  • Determine whether untrusted data reaches the affected routine and the process privilege, sandbox, and network exposure.
  • Confirm statically linked, vendored, firmware, and platform-provided copies, not only package-manager records.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained upstream correction or replace the affected component, then rebuild every dependent artifact from clean inputs.
  • Adopt bounds-checked interfaces, validated sizes and integer conversions, clear ownership, and memory-safe components where practical.
  • Enable supported compiler and runtime hardening and add sanitized tests and fuzz regression seeds derived from non-weaponized fixtures.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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