net/mlx5e: RX, Fix XDP multi-buf frag counting for striding RQ
CVE-2026-43465 · published 8 May 2026
How serious is it
- Severity: critical, CVSS score 9.8 out of 10.
- No exploit prediction (EPSS) score yet.
- Not on the CISA list of exploited vulnerabilities.
- No public exploit in Exploit-DB.
Is your app affected by CVE-2026-43465?
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Who is affected
- Linux Linux: 8b051d7f530e8a5237da242fbeafef02fec6b813 to < 6451ea47d60a8ca3524dfe370c013cd01063c7d3, cb9edd583e23979ee546981be963ad5f217e8b18 to < f0a850677a7b7589208ce11480e6958f516c8386, 87bcef158ac1faca1bd7e0104588e8e2956d10be to < 7d7342a18fadcdb70a63b3c930dc63528ce51832, 87bcef158ac1faca1bd7e0104588e8e2956d10be to < 043bd62f748bc9fd98154037aa598cffbd3c667c
- Linux Linux: 6.18
How to check
- Find out whether you run the affected product and which version, then compare it with the versions above.
How to fix
Copies a prompt for Claude Code, Cursor or Codex that asks it to check whether you run this product.
- Apply the vendor's update or mitigation from the references below. If there is none yet, limit exposure of the affected service until there is.
- If a vulnerable version was live, check your logs and rotate the secrets that server could read.
The advisory
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net/mlx5e: RX, Fix XDP multi-buf frag counting for striding RQ
XDP multi-buf programs can modify the layout of the XDP buffer when the
program calls bpf_xdp_pull_data() or bpf_xdp_adjust_tail(). The
referenced commit in the fixes tag corrected the assumption in the mlx5
driver that the XDP buffer layout doesn't change during a program
execution. However, this fix introduced another issue: the dropped
fragments still need to be counted on the driver side to avoid page
fragment reference counting issues.
The issue was discovered by the drivers/net/xdp.py selftest,
more specifically the test_xdp_native_tx_mb:
- The mlx5 driver allocates a page_pool page and initializes it with
a frag counter of 64 (pp_ref_count=64) and the internal frag counter
to 0.
- The test sends one packet with no payload.
- On RX (mlx5e_skb_from_cqe_mpwrq_nonlinear()), mlx5 configures the XDP
buffer with the packet data starting in the first fragment which is the
page mentioned above.
- The XDP program runs and calls bpf_xdp_pull_data() which moves the
header into the linear part of the XDP buffer. As the packet doesn't
contain more data, the program drops the tail fragment since it no
longer contains any payload (pp_ref_count=63).
- mlx5 device skips counting this fragment. Internal frag counter
remains 0.
- mlx5 releases all 64 fragments of the page but page pp_ref_count is
63 => negative reference counting error.
Resulting splat during the test:
WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 188225 at ./include/net/page_pool/helpers.h:297 mlx5e_page_release_fragmented.isra.0+0xbd/0xe0 [mlx5_core]
Modules linked in: [...]
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 188225 Comm: ip Not tainted 6.18.0-rc7_for_upstream_min_debug_2025_12_08_11_44 #1 NONE
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.13.0-0-gf21b5a4aeb02-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014
RIP: 0010:mlx5e_page_release_fragmented.isra.0+0xbd/0xe0 [mlx5_core]
[...]
Call Trace:
<TASK>
mlx5e_free_rx_mpwqe+0x20a/0x250 [mlx5_core]
mlx5e_dealloc_rx_mpwqe+0x37/0xb0 [mlx5_core]
mlx5e_free_rx_descs+0x11a/0x170 [mlx5_core]
mlx5e_close_rq+0x78/0xa0 [mlx5_core]
mlx5e_close_queues+0x46/0x2a0 [mlx5_core]
mlx5e_close_channel+0x24/0x90 [mlx5_core]
mlx5e_close_channels+0x5d/0xf0 [mlx5_core]
mlx5e_safe_switch_params+0x2ec/0x380 [mlx5_core]
mlx5e_change_mtu+0x11d/0x490 [mlx5_core]
mlx5e_change_nic_mtu+0x19/0x30 [mlx5_core]
netif_set_mtu_ext+0xfc/0x240
do_setlink.isra.0+0x226/0x1100
rtnl_newlink+0x7a9/0xba0
rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x220/0x3c0
netlink_rcv_skb+0x4b/0xf0
netlink_unicast+0x255/0x380
netlink_sendmsg+0x1f3/0x420
__sock_sendmsg+0x38/0x60
____sys_sendmsg+0x1e8/0x240
___sys_sendmsg+0x7c/0xb0
[...]
__sys_sendmsg+0x5f/0xb0
do_syscall_64+0x55/0xc70
The problem applies for XDP_PASS as well which is handled in a different
code path in the driver.
This patch fixes the issue by doing page frag counting on all the
original XDP buffer fragments for all relevant XDP actions (XDP_TX ,
XDP_REDIRECT and XDP_PASS). This is basically reverting to the original
counting before the commit in the fixes tag.
As frag_page is still pointing to the original tail, the nr_frags
parameter to xdp_update_skb_frags_info() needs to be calculated
in a different way to reflect the new nr_frags.
Check your whole app
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References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/6451ea47d60a8ca3524dfe370c013cd01063c7d3
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/f0a850677a7b7589208ce11480e6958f516c8386
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/7d7342a18fadcdb70a63b3c930dc63528ce51832
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/043bd62f748bc9fd98154037aa598cffbd3c667c
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/db25c42c2e1f9c0d136420fff5e5700f7e771a6f
Merged from CVE List. Last updated 25 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON