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

esp: do not unref managed frag pages in esp_ssg_unref()

esp_ssg_unref() releases the page references held on the source
scatterlist after the AEAD operation completes. It calls
skb_page_unref() on every frag page for an out-of-place transform
(req->src != req->dst), and in the error path of esp_output_tail()
(already_unref == true) on the request's own scatterlist.

This is wrong when the skb carries managed frags
(SKBFL_MANAGED_FRAG_REFS). Managed frags are owned by a zerocopy ubuf
and the skb does not hold a per-frag page reference; io_uring SEND_ZC
with a registered buffer attaches the bvec pages this way via
io_sg_from_iter(). The rest of the stack honours this invariant:
skb_release_data() skips the per-frag unref when SKBFL_MANAGED_FRAG_REFS
is set, and skb_zcopy_managed() is the guard used at the other unref
sites.

esp_ssg_unref() is missing that guard, so for a managed-frag skb it
drops a page reference the skb never acquired. This can underflow the
page reference count and free a page that is still in use.

Guard the function with skb_zcopy_managed() so both unref paths are
skipped for managed-frag skbs, matching skb_release_data().
Advisories

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Fixes

Solution

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Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 16:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: esp: do not unref managed frag pages in esp_ssg_unref() esp_ssg_unref() releases the page references held on the source scatterlist after the AEAD operation completes. It calls skb_page_unref() on every frag page for an out-of-place transform (req->src != req->dst), and in the error path of esp_output_tail() (already_unref == true) on the request's own scatterlist. This is wrong when the skb carries managed frags (SKBFL_MANAGED_FRAG_REFS). Managed frags are owned by a zerocopy ubuf and the skb does not hold a per-frag page reference; io_uring SEND_ZC with a registered buffer attaches the bvec pages this way via io_sg_from_iter(). The rest of the stack honours this invariant: skb_release_data() skips the per-frag unref when SKBFL_MANAGED_FRAG_REFS is set, and skb_zcopy_managed() is the guard used at the other unref sites. esp_ssg_unref() is missing that guard, so for a managed-frag skb it drops a page reference the skb never acquired. This can underflow the page reference count and free a page that is still in use. Guard the function with skb_zcopy_managed() so both unref paths are skipped for managed-frag skbs, matching skb_release_data().
Title esp: do not unref managed frag pages in esp_ssg_unref()
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-09-17T16:11:16.442Z

Reserved: 2026-09-17T16:02:15.085Z

Link: CVE-2026-93105

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-09-17T17:18:04.847

Modified: 2026-09-17T17:18:04.847

Link: CVE-2026-93105

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses

No weakness.