diff --git a/net/batman-adv/netlink.c b/net/batman-adv/netlink.c
index 6f08fd122a8d..7e052d6f759b 100644
--- a/net/batman-adv/netlink.c
+++ b/net/batman-adv/netlink.c
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ batadv_netlink_get_ifindex(const struct nlmsghdr *nlh, int attrtype)
 {
 	struct nlattr *attr = nlmsg_find_attr(nlh, GENL_HDRLEN, attrtype);
 
-	return attr ? nla_get_u32(attr) : 0;
+	return (attr && nla_len(attr) == sizeof(u32)) ? nla_get_u32(attr) : 0;
 }
 
 /**