CVE-2026-43465 | net/mlx5e: RX, Fix XDP multi-buf frag counting for striding RQ

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.

Published: 2026-05-08 Last update: 2026-05-20 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-2026-43465 is rated Moderate Risk (45.8/100): CVSS Critical severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.06%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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-2026-43465

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-2026-43465

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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: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.
 3.9 5.9 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-43465

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-43465

GHSA-wm82-xv2w-22mm · Severity: critical — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5e: RX, Fix XDP multi...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-43465

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2026-43465 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-2026-43465
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-43465
suse high CVE-2026-43465 severity important: SUSE including 19 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 145 product×package rows across 26 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS, … (26 product lines)): Known Not Affected 145. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-43465/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-43465 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-2026-43465

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-43465

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-2026-43465

cvelogic Threat Intelligence