In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
inetpeer: randomize RB-tree node comparison using SipHash
The inetpeer rate limiting system stores peer entries in a Red-Black tree keyed deterministically on the remote IP address. Because tree lookups walk the RB-tree using standard lexicographical comparisons (inetpeer_addr_cmp), an off-path adversary can predict the exact topology of the tree and the sequence of nodes traversed during lookups (the gc_stack candidate list).
By combining deterministic tree traversal with aggressive garbage collection (triggered when tree size exceeds inet_peer_threshold), an attacker can selectively force the eviction of targeted inet_peer nodes. When an evicted node is subsequently re-created upon receiving a new packet, its rate-limiting token bucket (rate_tokens, rate_last) is reset to full capacity. This creates a side-channel primitive allowing off-path attackers to bypass IP-keyed ICMP rate limits and infer open UDP ports (similar to SAD DNS style attacks).
Mitigate this by randomizing the RB-tree node comparison logic using SipHash with a secret key (inetpeer_hash_key) initialized via net_get_random_once(). Nodes are ordered in the tree by SipHash(addr, key) rather than raw IP addresses. Because the secret key is unknown to external entities, the tree layout and lookup traversal paths are unpredictable to off-path adversaries, breaking the deterministic eviction gadget.
Cache the computed 64-bit SipHash (hash) in struct inet_peer and compute the target hash (dhash) once at the beginning of inet_getpeer() to avoid recomputing SipHash at every step of the RB-tree walk.
| Product | Vendor Advisory | Solution File | Added | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon_linux_2023 | — | Upgrade perf-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-livepatch-6.1.188-233.385Upgrade kernel-modules-extra-commonUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64Upgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade python3-perf-debuginfoUpgrade python3-perfUpgrade kernel-headersUpgrade bpftool-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-tools-develUpgrade bpftoolUpgrade kernel-debuginfoUpgrade perfUpgrade kernel-tools-debuginfoUpgrade kernelUpgrade kernel-develUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64Upgrade kernel-modules-extra | Oct 13, 2026 | Sep 17, 2026 |
| Debian | — | Upgrade linuxUpgrade linux-6.12 | Sep 30, 2026 | Sep 17, 2026 |
| Redhat_linux | — | No solution exists | Oct 15, 2026 | Sep 17, 2026 |
| Vmware Photon_os | — | Use 'tdnf update' to upgrade all packages to the latest version. | Sep 30, 2026 | Sep 17, 2026 |
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