CVE-2026-31469 | virtio_net: Fix UAF on dst_ops when IFF_XMIT_DST_RELEASE is cleared and napi_tx is false

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: virtio_net: Fix UAF on dst_ops when IFF_XMIT_DST_RELEASE is cleared and napi_tx is false A UAF issue occurs when the virtio_net driver is configured with napi_tx=N and the device's IFF_XMIT_DST_RELEASE flag is cleared (e.g., during the configuration of tc route filter rules). When IFF_XMIT_DST_RELEASE is removed from the net_device, the network stack expects the driver to hold the reference to skb->dst until the packet is fully transmitted and freed. In virtio_net with napi_tx=N, skbs may remain in the virtio transmit ring for an extended period. If the network namespace is destroyed while these skbs are still pending, the corresponding dst_ops structure has freed. When a subsequent packet is transmitted, free_old_xmit() is triggered to clean up old skbs. It then calls dst_release() on the skb associated with the stale dst_entry. Since the dst_ops (referenced by the dst_entry) has already been freed, a UAF kernel paging request occurs. fix it by adds skb_dst_drop(skb) in start_xmit to explicitly release the dst reference before the skb is queued in virtio_net. Call Trace: Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address ffff80007e150000 CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 6236 Comm: ping Kdump: loaded Not tainted 7.0.0-rc1+ #6 PREEMPT ... percpu_counter_add_batch+0x3c/0x158 lib/percpu_counter.c:98 (P) dst_release+0xe0/0x110 net/core/dst.c:177 skb_release_head_state+0xe8/0x108 net/core/skbuff.c:1177 sk_skb_reason_drop+0x54/0x2d8 net/core/skbuff.c:1255 dev_kfree_skb_any_reason+0x64/0x78 net/core/dev.c:3469 napi_consume_skb+0x1c4/0x3a0 net/core/skbuff.c:1527 __free_old_xmit+0x164/0x230 drivers/net/virtio_net.c:611 [virtio_net] free_old_xmit drivers/net/virtio_net.c:1081 [virtio_net] start_xmit+0x7c/0x530 drivers/net/virtio_net.c:3329 [virtio_net] ... Reproduction Steps: NETDEV="enp3s0" config_qdisc_route_filter() { tc qdisc del dev $NETDEV root tc qdisc add dev $NETDEV root handle 1: prio tc filter add dev $NETDEV parent 1:0 \ protocol ip prio 100 route to 100 flowid 1:1 ip route add 192.168.1.100/32 dev $NETDEV realm 100 } test_ns() { ip netns add testns ip link set $NETDEV netns testns ip netns exec testns ifconfig $NETDEV 10.0.32.46/24 ip netns exec testns ping -c 1 10.0.32.1 ip netns del testns } config_qdisc_route_filter test_ns sleep 2 test_ns

Published: 2026-04-22 Last update: 2026-05-07 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-31469 is rated Low Risk (33.6/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-31469

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-23 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-31469

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-31469

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-31469

GHSA-vggv-f293-vmjw · Severity: high — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: virtio_net: Fix UAF on...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-31469

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-31469 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (linux, linux-6.1), 6 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 6. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-31469
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-31469
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-31469 medium priority: Ubuntu including 161 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1449 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1048, ignored 173, needed 129, released 83, not-affected 12, needs-triage 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-31469

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-31469

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 2.6.26, < 5.10.253 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.203 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.168 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.131 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.80 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.21 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 6.19.11 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-31469

cvelogic Threat Intelligence