CVE-2026-43464 | net/mlx5e: RX, Fix XDP multi-buf frag counting for legacy RQ

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5e: RX, Fix XDP multi-buf frag counting for legacy 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. Such issue can be observed with the test_xdp_native_adjst_tail_shrnk_data selftest when using a payload of 3600 and shrinking by 256 bytes (an upcoming selftest patch): the last fragment gets released by the XDP code but doesn't get tracked by the driver. This results in a negative pp_ref_count during page release and the following splat: WARNING: include/net/page_pool/helpers.h:297 at mlx5e_page_release_fragmented.isra.0+0x4a/0x50 [mlx5_core], CPU#12: ip/3137 Modules linked in: [...] CPU: 12 UID: 0 PID: 3137 Comm: ip Not tainted 6.19.0-rc3+ #12 NONE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:mlx5e_page_release_fragmented.isra.0+0x4a/0x50 [mlx5_core] [...] Call Trace: <TASK> mlx5e_dealloc_rx_wqe+0xcb/0x1a0 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_free_rx_descs+0x7f/0x110 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_close_rq+0x50/0x60 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_close_queues+0x36/0x2c0 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_close_channel+0x1c/0x50 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_close_channels+0x45/0x80 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_safe_switch_params+0x1a5/0x230 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_change_mtu+0xf3/0x2f0 [mlx5_core] netif_set_mtu_ext+0xf1/0x230 do_setlink.isra.0+0x219/0x1180 rtnl_newlink+0x79f/0xb60 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x213/0x3a0 netlink_rcv_skb+0x48/0xf0 netlink_unicast+0x24a/0x350 netlink_sendmsg+0x1ee/0x410 __sock_sendmsg+0x38/0x60 ____sys_sendmsg+0x232/0x280 ___sys_sendmsg+0x78/0xb0 __sys_sendmsg+0x5f/0xb0 [...] do_syscall_64+0x57/0xc50 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.

Published: 2026-05-08 Last update: 2026-05-20 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-43464 is rated Low Risk (36.2/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.06%). Mandatory action: 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-2026-43464

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 2026-05-11 0.02% 0.06% +0.04%
2 2026-05-09 0.02%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-43464

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.9 3.6 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-43464

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-43464

GHSA-mf99-5486-2jh2 · Severity: high — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5e: RX, Fix XDP multi...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-43464

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2026-43464 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-43464
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-43464
suse medium CVE-2026-43464 severity moderate: SUSE including 21 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 198 product×package rows across 39 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS, … (39 product lines)): Known Not Affected 198. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-43464/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-43464 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 169, not-affected 92, released 83, needed 52, needs-triage 5. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-43464

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-43464

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.6.115, < 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.12.56, < 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.17.6, < 6.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.18.1, < 6.18.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 6.19.9 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.18:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:*
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:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-43464

cvelogic Threat Intelligence