Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-31662 is a high-severity Wrap or Wraparound (CWE-191) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 32th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-31662 is an integer underflow vulnerability in the Linux kernel's Transparent Inter-Process Communication (TIPC) subsystem. The issue resides in the GRP_ACK_MSG handler within tipc_group_proto_rcv(), which decrements the bc_ackers counter—a 16-bit unsigned integer (u16)—on every inbound group acknowledgment, including duplicates from the same member. This leads to underflow after the final legitimate ACK, wrapping the counter to 65535 and causing tipc_group_bc_cong() to falsely report congestion, thereby blocking subsequent group broadcasts on the affected socket until the group is manually recreated.
A remote network attacker requires no privileges or user interaction to exploit this flaw. By sending duplicate GRP_ACK_MSG packets after the last valid acknowledgment in a broadcast round, the attacker triggers the underflow, resulting in a denial-of-service condition that persistently stalls TIPC group broadcasts. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) and is associated with CWE-191 (Integer Underflow).
Mitigation is provided through upstream Linux kernel patches in the stable repository. The fix, detailed in commits such as 1b6f13f626665cac67ba5a012765427680518711 and others, ignores duplicate or stale ACKs before modifying bc_acked or bc_ackers, ensuring idempotent handling and preventing the underflow path. Security practitioners should update affected kernel versions accordingly.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-25555
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tipc: fix bc_ackers underflow on duplicate GRP_ACK_MSG The GRP_ACK_MSG handler in tipc_group_proto_rcv() currently decrements bc_ackers on every inbound group ACK, even when the same member has already acknowledged the current…
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broadcast round. Because bc_ackers is a u16, a duplicate ACK received after the last legitimate ACK wraps the counter to 65535. Once wrapped, tipc_group_bc_cong() keeps reporting congestion and later group broadcasts on the affected socket stay blocked until the group is recreated. Fix this by ignoring duplicate or stale ACKs before touching bc_acked or bc_ackers. This makes repeated GRP_ACK_MSG handling idempotent and prevents the underflow path.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and static/dynamic analysis directly find integer underflow defects before code is released.
Security engineering principles require use of safe arithmetic constructs or language features that structurally eliminate integer underflow during subtraction.
Input validation can reject or sanitize values that would cause a subtraction to underflow the representable range.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC practices directly prevent integer underflow defects via input validation, bounds checking, and static analysis.
Vulnerability scanning and code analysis can surface underflow flaws after they are introduced.
Routine patching can remediate known underflow bugs once they are discovered in deployed software.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development catches integer underflow defects before release.
Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and arithmetic checks that prevent integer underflow.
Application security requirements include bounds checking and safe arithmetic to avoid underflow conditions.
Secure architecture principles require defensive coding patterns that mitigate integer wraparound risks.
Secure coding standards directly prescribe safe integer handling and overflow/underflow prevention.