CVE-2026-45886
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Fix bpf_xdp_store_bytes proto for read-only arg While making some maps in Cilium read-only from the BPF side, we noticed that the bpf_xdp_store_bytes proto is incorrect. In particular, the verifier was throwing the following error: ; ret = ctx_store_bytes(ctx, l3_off + offsetof(struct iphdr, saddr), &nat->address, 4, 0); 635: (79) r1 = *(u64 *)(r10 -144) ; R1=ctx() R10=fp0 fp-144=ctx() 636: (b4) w2 = 26 ; R2=26 637: (b4) w4 = 4 ; R4=4 638: (b4) w5 = 0 ; R5=0 639: (85) call bpf_xdp_store_bytes#190 write into map forbidden, value_size=6 off=0 size=4 nat comes from a BPF_F_RDONLY_PROG map, so R3 is a PTR_TO_MAP_VALUE. The verifier checks the helper's memory access to R3 in check_mem_size_reg, as it reaches ARG_CONST_SIZE argument. The third argument has expected type ARG_PTR_TO_UNINIT_MEM, which includes the MEM_WRITE flag. The verifier thus checks for a BPF_WRITE access on R3. Given R3 points to a read-only map, the check fails. Conversely, ARG_PTR_TO_UNINIT_MEM can also lead to the helper reading from uninitialized memory. This patch simply fixes the expected argument type to match that of bpf_skb_store_bytes.
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
5.18
and later are affected. Fixed in
6.1.165,
6.6.128,
6.12.75,
6.18.14,
6.19.4,
7.0
and their respective stable series.
References
The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-45886 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0db169a91381a473b7974021d1c02f8da72c5775
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/57f7f6a0ad04a65c8a7a067b2f56cbbf2aec9e52
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6557f1565d779851c4db9c488c49c05a47a6e72f
Frequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-45886?
CVE-2026-45886 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.18 onward and has been patched in 6.1.165, 6.6.128, 6.12.75 and others. CVE-2026-45886 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-45886?
Yes — CVE-2026-45886 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.165, 6.6.128, 6.12.75 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.18 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2026-45886 actively exploited?
No — CVE-2026-45886 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.