diff --git a/net/netlink/af_netlink.c b/net/netlink/af_netlink.c
index fa556fdef57d..55342c4d5cec 100644
--- a/net/netlink/af_netlink.c
+++ b/net/netlink/af_netlink.c
@@ -1844,6 +1844,8 @@ static int netlink_sendmsg(struct socket *sock, struct msghdr *msg, size_t len)
 
 	if (msg->msg_namelen) {
 		err = -EINVAL;
+		if (msg->msg_namelen < sizeof(struct sockaddr_nl))
+			goto out;
 		if (addr->nl_family != AF_NETLINK)
 			goto out;
 		dst_portid = addr->nl_pid;