Monitor vulnerabilities like this one. Sign up free to get alerted when software you use is affected.

Linux Kernel: Misaligned Data in virtio_net Struct

CVE-2026-23143
Summary

A bug has been fixed in the Linux kernel that caused a misalignment issue in a specific data structure. This issue could potentially cause unexpected behavior or crashes, but it's now resolved. Affected users should update to the latest Linux kernel version to ensure their systems are secure.

Original title
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: virtio_net: Fix misalignment bug in struct virtnet_info Use the new TRAILING_OVERLAP() helper to fix a misalignment bug along w...
Original description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

virtio_net: Fix misalignment bug in struct virtnet_info

Use the new TRAILING_OVERLAP() helper to fix a misalignment bug
along with the following warning:

drivers/net/virtio_net.c:429:46: warning: structure containing a flexible array member is not at the end of another structure [-Wflex-array-member-not-at-end]

This helper creates a union between a flexible-array member (FAM)
and a set of members that would otherwise follow it (in this case
`u8 rss_hash_key_data[VIRTIO_NET_RSS_MAX_KEY_SIZE];`). This
overlays the trailing members (rss_hash_key_data) onto the FAM
(hash_key_data) while keeping the FAM and the start of MEMBERS aligned.
The static_assert() ensures this alignment remains.

Notice that due to tail padding in flexible `struct
virtio_net_rss_config_trailer`, `rss_trailer.hash_key_data`
(at offset 83 in struct virtnet_info) and `rss_hash_key_data` (at
offset 84 in struct virtnet_info) are misaligned by one byte. See
below:

struct virtio_net_rss_config_trailer {
__le16 max_tx_vq; /* 0 2 */
__u8 hash_key_length; /* 2 1 */
__u8 hash_key_data[]; /* 3 0 */

/* size: 4, cachelines: 1, members: 3 */
/* padding: 1 */
/* last cacheline: 4 bytes */
};

struct virtnet_info {
...
struct virtio_net_rss_config_trailer rss_trailer; /* 80 4 */

/* XXX last struct has 1 byte of padding */

u8 rss_hash_key_data[40]; /* 84 40 */
...
/* size: 832, cachelines: 13, members: 48 */
/* sum members: 801, holes: 8, sum holes: 31 */
/* paddings: 2, sum paddings: 5 */
};

After changes, those members are correctly aligned at offset 795:

struct virtnet_info {
...
union {
struct virtio_net_rss_config_trailer rss_trailer; /* 792 4 */
struct {
unsigned char __offset_to_hash_key_data[3]; /* 792 3 */
u8 rss_hash_key_data[40]; /* 795 40 */
}; /* 792 43 */
}; /* 792 44 */
...
/* size: 840, cachelines: 14, members: 47 */
/* sum members: 801, holes: 8, sum holes: 35 */
/* padding: 4 */
/* paddings: 1, sum paddings: 4 */
/* last cacheline: 8 bytes */
};

As a result, the RSS key passed to the device is shifted by 1
byte: the last byte is cut off, and instead a (possibly
uninitialized) byte is added at the beginning.

As a last note `struct virtio_net_rss_config_hdr *rss_hdr;` is also
moved to the end, since it seems those three members should stick
around together. :)
Published: 14 Feb 2026 · Updated: 10 Mar 2026 · First seen: 6 Mar 2026