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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-63996: Linux kernel · ethtool: cmis: require exact CDB reply length

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High · fixed in eb5dcd740cd7fa27bc2caeff2d28ef28e93ff4d3 : patch Linux kernel soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
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
Total control over the software or total information disclosure

CISA SSVC assessment, 2026-10-16.

Patch
Available – fixed in eb5dcd740cd7fa27bc2caeff2d28ef28e93ff4d3, 6c3f999a9d1338c6c89a9ff4549eafe72bc2e7b1, 4d42fb88ec61f2e98c33a9e3a2de371d5edbc6b1 +1
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 19 Jul 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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 26 Oct 2026.

What to do

Upgrade Linux kernel to eb5dcd740cd7fa27bc2caeff2d28ef28e93ff4d3, 6c3f999a9d1338c6c89a9ff4549eafe72bc2e7b1, 4d42fb88ec61f2e98c33a9e3a2de371d5edbc6b1 or 2f818cc98fd2c63a08239cb48995f6c3bfe9d9b3.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • ≥ a39c84d796254e6b1662ca0c46dbc313379e9291, < eb5dcd740cd7fa27bc2caeff2d28ef28e93ff4d3
Fixed in
  • eb5dcd740cd7fa27bc2caeff2d28ef28e93ff4d3
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • ≥ a39c84d796254e6b1662ca0c46dbc313379e9291, < 6c3f999a9d1338c6c89a9ff4549eafe72bc2e7b1
Fixed in
  • 6c3f999a9d1338c6c89a9ff4549eafe72bc2e7b1
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • ≥ a39c84d796254e6b1662ca0c46dbc313379e9291, < 4d42fb88ec61f2e98c33a9e3a2de371d5edbc6b1
Fixed in
  • 4d42fb88ec61f2e98c33a9e3a2de371d5edbc6b1
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • ≥ a39c84d796254e6b1662ca0c46dbc313379e9291, < 2f818cc98fd2c63a08239cb48995f6c3bfe9d9b3
Fixed in
  • 2f818cc98fd2c63a08239cb48995f6c3bfe9d9b3
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • =6.11
Fixed in–

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ethtool: cmis: require exact CDB reply length Malicious SFP module could respond with rpl_len longer than what cmis_cdb_process_reply() expected, leading to OOB writes. Malicious HW is a bit theoretical but some modules may just be buggy and/or the reads may occasionally get corrupted, so let's protect the kernel. The existing check protects from short replies. We need to protect from long ones, too. All callers that pass a non-zero rpl_exp_len cast the reply payload to a fixed-layout struct and read fields at fixed offsets, with no version negotiation or short-reply handling: - cmis_cdb_validate_password() - cmis_cdb_module_features_get() - cmis_fw_update_fw_mng_features_get() so let's assume that responses longer than expected do not have to be handled gracefully here. Add a warning message to make the debug easier in case my understanding is wrong... Note that page_data->length (argument of kmalloc) comes from last arg to ethtool_cmis_page_init() which is rpl_exp_len. Note2 that AIs also like to point out overflows in args->req.payload itself (which is a fixed-size 120 B buffer, on the stack), but callers should be reading structs defined by the standard, so protecting from requests for more data than max seem like defensive programming.

References

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