CVE-2026-23386: Linux kernel · gve: fix incorrect buffer cleanup in gve_tx_clean_pending_packets for QPL
Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · fixed in fb868db5f4bccd7a78219313ab2917429f715cea : update Linux kernel when convenient.
Data as of 5 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC
Rated by Threat Radar · No CVSS score from NVD or the CNA
Thin evidence
One scorer or none- EPSS
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 2% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- No evidence of active exploitation and no public proof of concept
- Automatable
- Attackers cannot reliably automate steps 1–4 of the kill chain
- Technical impact
- Limited control over the software or limited information exposure
CISA SSVC assessment, 2026-11-05.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in fb868db5f4bccd7a78219313ab2917429f715cea, c171f90f58974c784db25e0606051541cb71b7f0, 71511dae56a75ce161aa746741e5c498feaea393 +2
Exploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 25 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 5 Nov 2026.
What to do
Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in
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| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in
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| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in
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| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in
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| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in
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| LinuxLinux | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: gve: fix incorrect buffer cleanup in gve_tx_clean_pending_packets for QPL In DQ-QPL mode, gve_tx_clean_pending_packets() incorrectly uses the RDA buffer cleanup path. It iterates num_bufs times and attempts to unmap entries in the dma array. This leads to two issues: 1. The dma array shares storage with tx_qpl_buf_ids (union). Interpreting buffer IDs as DMA addresses results in attempting to unmap incorrect memory locations. 2. num_bufs in QPL mode (counting 2K chunks) can significantly exceed the size of the dma array, causing out-of-bounds access warnings (trace below is how we noticed this issue). UBSAN: array-index-out-of-bounds in drivers/net/ethernet/drivers/net/ethernet/google/gve/gve_tx_dqo.c:178:5 index 18 is out of range for type 'dma_addr_t[18]' (aka 'unsigned long long[18]') Workqueue: gve gve_service_task [gve] Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x33/0xa0 __ubsan_handle_out_of_bounds+0xdc/0x110 gve_tx_stop_ring_dqo+0x182/0x200 [gve] gve_close+0x1be/0x450 [gve] gve_reset+0x99/0x120 [gve] gve_service_task+0x61/0x100 [gve] process_scheduled_works+0x1e9/0x380 Fix this by properly checking for QPL mode and delegating to gve_free_tx_qpl_bufs() to reclaim the buffers.
References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/71511dae56a75ce161aa746741e5c498feaea393 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/c171f90f58974c784db25e0606051541cb71b7f0 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/07e0c80e17ef781799e7cd5c41a7bf44f1bf6a5f (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/3744ebd8ffaa542ae8110fb449adcac0202f4cc8 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/fb868db5f4bccd7a78219313ab2917429f715cea (opens in a new tab)