Vulnerability record · CVE-2026-72502 · published 15 August 2026
CVE-2026-72502: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tcp: ipv6: clamp default adverting MSS to…
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tcp: ipv6: clamp default adverting MSS to avoid GSO_BY_FRAGS (0xFFFF) When MTU is large, ip6_default_advmss() can return IPV6_MAXPLEN (65535). This is interpreted by TCP as mss_clamp, allowing the MSS to reach 65535. However, 0xFFFF is also used as a magic value GSO_BY_FRAGS in the kernel. If a TCP packet with gso_size=0xFFFF is passed to skb_segment(), it will be mistakenly treated as GSO_BY_FRAGS, leading to a NULL pointer dereference because local TCP packets do not use frag_list. Fix this by returning min(IPV6_MAXPLEN, GSO_BY_FRAGS - 1) (65534) from ip6_default_advmss() when MTU is large. Also update the stale comment in ip6_default_advmss() which suggested that IPV6_MAXPLEN is returned to mean "any MSS".
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tcp: ipv6: clamp default adverting MSS to avoid GSO_BY_FRAGS (0xFFFF) When MTU is large, ip6_default_advmss() can return IPV6_MAXPLEN (65535). This is interpreted by TCP as mss_clamp, allowing the MSS to reach 65535. However, 0xFFFF is also used as a magic value GSO_BY_FRAGS in the kernel. If a TCP packet with gso_size=0xFFFF is passed to skb_segment(), it will be mistakenly treated as GSO_BY_FRAGS, leading to a NULL pointer dereference because local TCP packets do not use frag_list. Fix this by returning min(IPV6_MAXPLEN, GSO_BY_FRAGS - 1) (65534) from ip6_default_advmss() when MTU is large. Also update the stale comment in ip6_default_advmss() which suggested that IPV6_MAXPLEN is returned to mean "any MSS".
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
References
Track CVE-2026-72502 inside VULONE
Watch it alongside the ransomware crews, C2 infrastructure and forum chatter that reference it, query it through the API and pull it into your SIEM over TAXII.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2026-72502), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.
