In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
flow_dissector: do not dissect PPPoE PFC frames
RFC 2516 Section 7 states that Protocol Field Compression (PFC) is NOT RECOMMENDED for PPPoE. In practice, pppd does not support negotiating PFC for PPPoE sessions, and the flow dissector driver has assumed an uncompressed frame until the blamed commit.
During the review process of that commit [1], support for PFC is suggested. However, having a compressed (1-byte) protocol field means the subsequent PPP payload is shifted by one byte, causing 4-byte misalignment for the network header and an unaligned access exception on some architectures.
The exception can be reproduced by sending a PPPoE PFC frame to an ethernet interface of a MIPS board, with RPS enabled, even if no PPPoE session is active on that interface:
$ 0 : 00000000 80c40000 00000000 85144817 $ 4 : 00000008 00000100 80a75758 81dc9bb8 $ 8 : 00000010 8087ae2c 0000003d 00000000 $12 : 000000e0 00000039 00000000 00000000 $16 : 85043240 80a75758 81dc9bb8 00006488 $20 : 0000002f 00000007 85144810 80a70000 $24 : 81d1bda0 00000000 $28 : 81dc8000 81dc9aa8 00000000 805ead08 Hi : 00009d51 Lo : 2163358a epc : 805e91f0 __skb_flow_dissect+0x1b0/0x1b50 ra : 805ead08 __skb_get_hash_net+0x74/0x12c Status: 11000403 KERNEL EXL IE Cause : 40800010 (ExcCode 04) BadVA : 85144817 PrId : 0001992f (MIPS 1004Kc) Call Trace: [<805e91f0>] __skb_flow_dissect+0x1b0/0x1b50 [<805ead08>] __skb_get_hash_net+0x74/0x12c [<805ef330>] get_rps_cpu+0x1b8/0x3fc [<805fca70>] netif_receive_skb_list_internal+0x324/0x364 [<805fd120>] napi_complete_done+0x68/0x2a4 [<8058de5c>] mtk_napi_rx+0x228/0xfec [<805fd398>] __napi_poll+0x3c/0x1c4 [<805fd754>] napi_threaded_poll_loop+0x234/0x29c [<805fd848>] napi_threaded_poll+0x8c/0xb0 [<80053544>] kthread+0x104/0x12c [<80002bd8>] ret_from_kernel_thread+0x14/0x1c
Code: 02d51821 1060045b 00000000 <8c640000> 3084000f 2c820005 144001a2 00042080 8e220000
To reduce the attack surface and maintain performance, do not process PPPoE PFC frames.
[1] https://lore.kernel.org/r/[email protected]
| Software | Affected versions |
|---|---|
| linux / linux_kernel | >= 6.0, < 6.1.175 |
| linux / linux_kernel | >= 6.2, < 6.6.140 |
| linux / linux_kernel | >= 6.7, < 6.12.88 |
| linux / linux_kernel | >= 6.13, < 6.18.30 |
| linux / linux_kernel | >= 6.19, < 7.0.7 |
A vulnerability database tells you what is broken. Attack surface management tells you where it is running: it discovers your internet-facing assets and flags the ones affected by issues like this one.
What is attack surface management? →A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.