CVE-2026-99079

Critical

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5e: Prevent stale XSK buffer release on refill retry When an XDP redirect to an AF_XDP socket fails because its RX ring is full, the XSK core frees the buffer. During the subsequent batched refill of a legacy cyclic RQ, mlx5e also releases the WQE's XSK buffer before allocating a replacement. If that refill succeeds only partially, a WQE left without a replacement retains its old buffer pointer. The buffer can meanwhile be allocated to another WQE. A later refill retry can then free the live buffer through the stale pointer and publish the same UMEM frame twice. Mark the WQE as released immediately after the driver-side free. The flag is already cleared when a replacement buffer is assigned, so refill retries no longer release stale pointers. The failure is silent and produces no kernel warning or splat. A standalone legacy cyclic-RQ zero-copy libxsk reproducer, using 64-byte UDP traffic offered at 12 Mpps, detected it: stock stopped after 2,854,914 packets in 4.094 seconds, with 4,542 xdp_rx_ring_full events and 64 ownership/double-publication errors. With this change it processed 356,904,225 packets in 30 seconds despite 571,405 xdp_rx_ring_full events, with no ownership or data errors.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2026-10-23
Last modified 2026-10-24
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

9.8

out of 10
Critical
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.4 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.57, 7.2.11, 7.3 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 6.4
Fixed in
✓ 6.6.160 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.113 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.57 6.18.x ✓ 7.2.11 7.2.x ✓ 7.3

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2026-99079?

    CVE-2026-99079 is a Critical severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.4 onward and has been patched in 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.57 and others. CVE-2026-99079 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-99079?

    CVE-2026-99079 has a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10, rated Critical severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-99079?

    Yes. CVE-2026-99079 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.57 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 6.4 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2026-99079 actively exploited?

    No. CVE-2026-99079 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.