diff --git a/drivers/vhost/vsock.c b/drivers/vhost/vsock.c
index 0cb87971d749..88a310390eb0 100644
--- a/drivers/vhost/vsock.c
+++ b/drivers/vhost/vsock.c
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ static struct sk_buff *
 vhost_vsock_alloc_skb(struct vhost_virtqueue *vq,
 		      unsigned int out, unsigned int in)
 {
-	struct virtio_vsock_hdr *hdr;
+	struct virtio_vsock_hdr hdr;
 	struct iov_iter iov_iter;
 	struct sk_buff *skb;
 	size_t payload_len;
@@ -378,34 +378,32 @@ vhost_vsock_alloc_skb(struct vhost_virtqueue *vq,
 	    len > VIRTIO_VSOCK_MAX_PKT_BUF_SIZE + VIRTIO_VSOCK_SKB_HEADROOM)
 		return NULL;
 
-	/* len contains both payload and hdr */
-	skb = virtio_vsock_alloc_skb(len, GFP_KERNEL);
-	if (!skb)
-		return NULL;
-
 	iov_iter_init(&iov_iter, ITER_SOURCE, vq->iov, out, len);
 
-	hdr = virtio_vsock_hdr(skb);
-	nbytes = copy_from_iter(hdr, sizeof(*hdr), &iov_iter);
-	if (nbytes != sizeof(*hdr)) {
+	nbytes = copy_from_iter(&hdr, sizeof(hdr), &iov_iter);
+	if (nbytes != sizeof(hdr)) {
 		vq_err(vq, "Expected %zu bytes for pkt->hdr, got %zu bytes\n",
-		       sizeof(*hdr), nbytes);
-		kfree_skb(skb);
+		       sizeof(hdr), nbytes);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	payload_len = le32_to_cpu(hdr->len);
+	payload_len = le32_to_cpu(hdr.len);
+
+	/* The pkt is too big or the length in the header is invalid */
+	if (payload_len > len - sizeof(hdr))
+		return NULL;
+
+	/* Allocate only for the payload declared in the header. */
+	skb = virtio_vsock_alloc_skb(payload_len + sizeof(hdr), GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!skb)
+		return NULL;
+
+	memcpy(virtio_vsock_hdr(skb), &hdr, sizeof(hdr));
 
 	/* No payload */
 	if (!payload_len)
 		return skb;
 
-	/* The pkt is too big or the length in the header is invalid */
-	if (payload_len + sizeof(*hdr) > len) {
-		kfree_skb(skb);
-		return NULL;
-	}
-
 	virtio_vsock_skb_put(skb, payload_len);
 
 	if (skb_copy_datagram_from_iter(skb, 0, &iov_iter, payload_len)) {