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CVE-2026-99079

Full vulnerability record from the local CVENow database.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5e: Prevent stale XSK buffer release on refill retry When an XDP redirect to an AF_XDP socket fails because its RX ring is full, the XSK core frees the buffer. During the subsequent batched refill of a legacy cyclic RQ, mlx5e also releases the WQE's XSK buffer before allocating a replacement. If that refill succeeds only partially, a WQE left without a replacement retains its old buffer pointer. The buffer can meanwhile be allocated to another WQE. A later refill retry can then free the live buffer through the stale pointer and publish the same UMEM frame twice. Mark the WQE as released immediately after the driver-side free. The flag is already cleared when a replacement buffer is assigned, so refill retries no longer release stale pointers. The failure is silent and produces no kernel warning or splat. A standalone legacy cyclic-RQ zero-copy libxsk reproducer, using 64-byte UDP traffic offered at 12 Mpps, detected it: stock stopped after 2,854,914 packets in 4.094 seconds, with 4,542 xdp_rx_ring_full events and 64 ownership/double-publication errors. With this change it processed 356,904,225 packets in 30 seconds despite 571,405 xdp_rx_ring_full events, with no ownership or data errors.

Severity
CRITICAL
CVSS score
9.8 (v3.1)
Vulnerability status
Received
Source identifier
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Published
2026-10-23 13:17:32.040000
Last modified
2026-10-24 14:16:54.940000
View original CVE JSON
{
  "id": "CVE-2026-99079",
  "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
  "published": "2026-10-23T13:17:32.040",
  "lastModified": "2026-10-24T14:16:54.940",
  "vulnStatus": "Received",
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet/mlx5e: Prevent stale XSK buffer release on refill retry\n\nWhen an XDP redirect to an AF_XDP socket fails because its RX ring is\nfull, the XSK core frees the buffer. During the subsequent batched refill\nof a legacy cyclic RQ, mlx5e also releases the WQE's XSK buffer before\nallocating a replacement. If that refill succeeds only partially, a WQE\nleft without a replacement retains its old buffer pointer.\n\nThe buffer can meanwhile be allocated to another WQE. A later refill\nretry can then free the live buffer through the stale pointer and publish\nthe same UMEM frame twice.\n\nMark the WQE as released immediately after the driver-side free. The flag\nis already cleared when a replacement buffer is assigned, so refill\nretries no longer release stale pointers.\n\nThe failure is silent and produces no kernel warning or splat. A\nstandalone legacy cyclic-RQ zero-copy libxsk reproducer, using 64-byte UDP\ntraffic offered at 12 Mpps, detected it: stock stopped after 2,854,914\npackets in 4.094 seconds, with 4,542 xdp_rx_ring_full events and 64\nownership/double-publication errors. With this change it processed\n356,904,225 packets in 30 seconds despite 571,405 xdp_rx_ring_full events,\nwith no ownership or data errors."
    }
  ],
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rx.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "3f93f82988bc6b4104314bf9aa485d47fbb7e241",
              "lessThan": "32bbb870078d467479965c21bbc4960c57eea208",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "3f93f82988bc6b4104314bf9aa485d47fbb7e241",
              "lessThan": "34d1db2b18e1c1d189e34dd51923e031815f88e3",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "3f93f82988bc6b4104314bf9aa485d47fbb7e241",
              "lessThan": "639522e5056cade578a324acfa993ec6c9f7f5dc",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "3f93f82988bc6b4104314bf9aa485d47fbb7e241",
              "lessThan": "655f47477054d19de3b138840be229a1a4490d0c",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "3f93f82988bc6b4104314bf9aa485d47fbb7e241",
              "lessThan": "e01620844c5c88b6fcf819d171df8e3976a0e76f",
              "versionType": "git",
              "status": "affected"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en_rx.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "6.4",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "0",
              "lessThan": "6.4",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.6.160",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.12.113",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "6.18.57",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "7.2.11",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "unaffected"
            },
            {
              "version": "7.3",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
              "status": "unaffected"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "type": "Secondary",
        "cvssData": {
          "version": "3.1",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
          "baseScore": 9.8,
          "baseSeverity": "CRITICAL",
          "attackVector": "NETWORK",
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
          "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
          "availabilityImpact": "HIGH"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 3.9,
        "impactScore": 5.9
      }
    ]
  },
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/32bbb870078d467479965c21bbc4960c57eea208",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/34d1db2b18e1c1d189e34dd51923e031815f88e3",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/639522e5056cade578a324acfa993ec6c9f7f5dc",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/655f47477054d19de3b138840be229a1a4490d0c",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e01620844c5c88b6fcf819d171df8e3976a0e76f",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    }
  ]
}