CVE-2026-31707
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ksmbd: validate response sizes in ipc_validate_msg()
ipc_validate_msg() computes the expected message size for each response type by adding (or multiplying) attacker-controlled fields from the daemon response to a fixed struct size in unsigned int arithmetic. Three cases can overflow:
KSMBD_EVENT_RPC_REQUEST: msg_sz = sizeof(struct ksmbd_rpc_command) + resp->payload_sz; KSMBD_EVENT_SHARE_CONFIG_REQUEST: msg_sz = sizeof(struct ksmbd_share_config_response) + resp->payload_sz; KSMBD_EVENT_LOGIN_REQUEST_EXT: msg_sz = sizeof(struct ksmbd_login_response_ext) + resp->ngroups * sizeof(gid_t);
resp->payload_sz is __u32 and resp->ngroups is __s32. Each addition can wrap in unsigned int; the multiplication by sizeof(gid_t) mixes signed and size_t, so a negative ngroups is converted to SIZE_MAX before the multiply. A wrapped value of msg_sz that happens to equal entry->msg_sz bypasses the size check on the next line, and downstream consumers (smb2pdu.c:6742 memcpy using rpc_resp->payload_sz, kmemdup in ksmbd_alloc_user using resp_ext->ngroups) then trust the unverified length.
Use check_add_overflow() on the RPC_REQUEST and SHARE_CONFIG_REQUEST paths to detect integer overflow without constraining functional payload size; userspace ksmbd-tools grows NDR responses in 4096-byte chunks for calls like NetShareEnumAll, so a hard transport cap is unworkable on the response side. For LOGIN_REQUEST_EXT, reject resp->ngroups outside the signed [0, NGROUPS_MAX] range up front and report the error from ipc_validate_msg() so it fires at the IPC boundary; with that bound the subsequent multiplication and addition stay well below UINT_MAX. The now-redundant ngroups check and pr_err in ksmbd_alloc_user() are removed.
This is the response-side analogue of aab98e2dbd64 ("ksmbd: fix integer overflows on 32 bit systems"), which hardened the request side.
AI Insight
LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.
Integer overflow in ksmbd's IPC message validation allows attackers to bypass size checks, leading to out-of-bounds memory access.
The vulnerability resides in ipc_validate_msg() in the Linux kernel's ksmbd (SMB server). The function computes expected message sizes using unsigned integer arithmetic with attacker-controlled fields from the daemon response. Three cases can overflow: KSMBD_EVENT_RPC_REQUEST, KSMBD_EVENT_SHARE_CONFIG_REQUEST, and KSMBD_EVENT_LOGIN_REQUEST_EXT. For the first two, adding resp->payload_sz to a struct size can wrap; for the third, multiplying resp->ngroups (signed) by sizeof(gid_t) can produce a huge value if ngroups is negative, due to signed-to-unsigned conversion.
An attacker who can control the daemon response (e.g., a malicious userspace ksmbd-tools or a compromised daemon) can craft a response with a large payload_sz or a negative ngroups. The wrapped msg_sz may coincidentally equal the actual message size, bypassing the subsequent size check. Downstream consumers then trust the unverified length, leading to out-of-bounds reads or writes.
The impact includes potential memory corruption, information disclosure, or denial of service. This vulnerability is the response-side analogue of a previously fixed request-side issue (commit aab98e2dbd64). Attackers could leverage this to escalate privileges or crash the system.
The fix uses check_add_overflow() for the RPC and share config paths, and validates ngroups range for login requests. The patches were applied to stable kernel trees [1][2][3][4]. Users should update to the latest stable kernel.
AI Insight generated on May 18, 2026. Synthesized from this CVE's description and the cited reference URLs; citations are validated against the source bundle.
Affected products
3Patches
0No patches discovered yet.
Vulnerability mechanics
AI mechanics synthesis has not run for this CVE yet.
News mentions
1- Patch Tuesday - May 2026Rapid7 Blog · May 13, 2026