CVE-2026-98022 — net: cap tx_queue_len at S16_MAX to prevent oversized ring allocations

Affected: Linux

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

net: cap tx_queue_len at S16_MAX to prevent oversized ring allocations

Several subsystems allocate ring buffers sized by dev->tx_queue_len with no upper bound. An unprivileged user (via unshare -Urn) can set a huge tx_queue_len and exhaust global memory with ring allocations:

- pfifo_fast: pfifo_fast_init() and pfifo_fast_change_tx_queue_len() allocate 3 skb_array rings of tx_queue_len entries each. - tun: tun_queue_resize() and the queue-attach path resize ptr_rings to tx_queue_len on the NETDEV_CHANGE_TX_QUEUE_LEN notifier. - tap (macvtap/ipvtap): tap_queue_resize() and tap_init() resize/init ptr_rings to tx_queue_len on the same notifier.

netif_change_tx_queue_len() is the single entry point for IFLA_TXQLEN, sysfs, and the SIOCSIFTXQLEN ioctl. Cap new_len at S16_MAX (32767) there so the oversized value is rejected at set time. This takes effect whether the device is up or down, before dev->tx_queue_len is written, before any notifier fires, and before any ring is allocated. The "> S16_MAX" check also subsumes the previous unsigned-long truncation test, and a negative ifr_qlen from the ioctl lands far above the cap after conversion, so both old failure modes are covered by the one comparison.

tx_queue_len is ambigious: both a per-ring sizing multiplier and a default queue-length/limit knob for consumers that allocate nothing at set time (pfifo/bfifo/gred/plug/sfb limits, htb direct_qlen, qfq max…

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CVE-2026-98022 — net: cap tx_queue_len at S16_MAX to prevent oversized ring allocations