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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-74269: Linux kernel · bnxt: fix head underflow on XDP head-grow

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.8 Critical · fixed in ff34e5a26a26c92142afea11455e259c4c4c617b : patch Linux kernel as a priority.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
9.8Critical
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 51% 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 can 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 ff34e5a26a26c92142afea11455e259c4c4c617b, e26657fe3b85c068b01f42bb0c602f242d643ba9, bb72b1c6755631c74b7e0878ee55bb81c06776c0 +4
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 15 Aug 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 to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • >=6.1.45 <6.2
  • >=6.4.10 <6.5
Fixed in
  • ff34e5a26a26c92142afea11455e259c4c4c617b
  • e26657fe3b85c068b01f42bb0c602f242d643ba9
  • bb72b1c6755631c74b7e0878ee55bb81c06776c0
  • 6.5
  • 6.2
  • 4c03275bc4435cc8e25f7f3f08aff58c0e783d8d
  • 3e8f3959a7fd28461b8cd9708c21286b4250b77a
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • =6.5
Fixed in–

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bnxt: fix head underflow on XDP head-grow The xdp.py test test_xdp_native_adjst_head_grow_data crashes when run on a bnxt machine (and also crashes in NIPA). It seems that the bug is an underflow in bnxt_rx_multi_page_skb, which builds the skb head: napi_build_skb(data_ptr - bp->rx_offset, rxr->rx_page_size); The problem with this expression is that in page mode, rx_offset is: bp->rx_offset = NET_IP_ALIGN + XDP_PACKET_HEADROOM; Which evaluates (at least on x86_64) to 258. The test test_xdp_native_adjst_head_grow_data tests a case where the head is adjusted by -256. When this test runs, data_ptr is shifted to frag_start + 2 (where frag_start = page_address(page) + offset). Then, bnxt_rx_multi_page_skb is invoked and the napi_build_skb expression subtracts 258, landing at an address before frag_start. This could be either the previous fragment or the previous physical page when the offset is < 256 (e.g. if the fragment started at offset 0). When the skb is freed, the page pool fragment reference is dropped on either the wrong page or the wrong frag of the right page. In either case, the corrupted reference count can lead to the page being prematurely recycled while still in use. Once (incorrectly) recycled, it can be handed out again and on driver teardown this would result in a double free. The commit under fixes updated this code to handle the case where the native page size is >= 64k, but it unintentionally broke the head grow case. To fix this, add an offset field to struct bnxt_sw_rx_bd, mirroring the existing offset field in struct bnxt_sw_rx_agg_bd. Populate it on allocation and preserve it on reuse. In bnxt_rx_multi_page_skb, use the newly added offset field to compute the fragment start and pass that to napi_build_skb. Adjust the layout with skb_reserve. There are two cases, the non-adjustment case and the adjustment case. In both cases, the skb is built at page_address(page) + offset to account for the case where the native page size >= 64K and skb_reserve is called with data_ptr - (page_address(page) + offset). That difference equals bp->rx_offset when data_ptr was not moved, or bp->rx_offset + xdp_adjust when XDP adjusted the head. Re-running the failing test with this commit applied causes the test to run successfully to completion. The other rx_skb_func implementations don't have this issue.

References

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