VulnerabilityPublished 11 Sep 2026Updated 30 Sep 2026

CVE-2026-89480: Linux kernel · nvme-tcp: reject a read that transferred too few bytes

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 13:47 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 35% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 11 Sep 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: 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 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-p53f-q495-p25h

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-5.5 – 7.0.0-34.34 22 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-aws`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1002.2 – 7.0.0-1013.13 14 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1003.3 – 7.0.0-1014.14 14 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure-fde`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 7.0.0-1003.3 – 7.0.0-1013.13 8 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gcp`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1002.2 – 7.0.0-1013.13 12 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gke`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gke?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 7.0.0-1002.3 – 7.0.0-1007.8 5 affected builds	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel to verify that the number of bytes received matches the requested read length before completing the request. Users should apply the official kernel updates that include this patch. Since this is a kernel-level vulnerability, updating to a patched kernel version is the recommended remediation. Patch status is not explicitly confirmed in the provided data; users should consult the vendor advisory or Linux kernel mailing lists for the exact fixed versions and update accordingly.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvme-tcp: reject a read that transferred too few bytes nvme_tcp_recv_data() completes a request once the current C2HData PDU has been consumed. Nothing compares the total bytes received against the length the command asked for: struct nvme_tcp_request has no receive-side counter, queue->data_remaining is per queue, and blk_mq_end_request() completes for blk_rq_bytes(rq) unconditionally with no residual concept anywhere above. A controller can therefore answer a 4096-byte read with 512 bytes and have it reported as a complete read; user space then gets 4096 bytes of which 3584 are whatever was already in the page. I reproduced that with a test target. Count the bytes received and refuse to complete a successful read whose count does not match, at the two NVME_TCP_F_DATA_SUCCESS paths and in nvme_tcp_process_nvme_cqe(). The success test shifts req->status right by one, because the driver keeps the wire value there and shifts it on completion, so the check must see what the completion path will see. Only REQ_OP_READ is checked, because there the length comes from the sectors the request covers; a passthrough command is built by its submitter, which picks both command and buffer, so the kernel has nothing to compare against.

Impact

User space applications relying on NVMe over TCP reads could receive incomplete data buffers with stale or uninitialized data, potentially leading to data corruption or incorrect application behavior. The vulnerability does not appear to allow arbitrary code execution or privilege escalation but compromises data integrity for read operations.

Summary

The Linux kernel's nvme_tcp_recv_data() function previously completed read requests once the current C2HData PDU was consumed without verifying that the total bytes received matched the requested length. Because struct nvme_tcp_request lacked a receive-side byte counter and queue->data_remaining was per queue, the kernel could incorrectly report a partial read as complete. This allowed a controller to respond to a 4096-byte read request with only 512 bytes, leaving the remaining buffer filled with stale data. The fix involved counting the bytes received and refusing to complete a read if the count does not match the requested length, specifically for REQ_OP_READ operations, by adding checks at the NVME_TCP_F_DATA_SUCCESS paths and in nvme_tcp_process_nvme_cqe().

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 12 Sep 2026, 01:13 UTC

Technical details

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