Linux Kernel up to 7.1.5/7.2-rc4 txgbe txgbe_read_eeprom_hostif heap-based overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.5/7.2-rc4. This affects the function txgbe_read_eeprom_hostif of the component txgbe. This manipulation causes heap-based overflow. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-68440. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.5/7.2-rc4. Affected by this vulnerability is the function txgbe_read_eeprom_hostif of the component txgbe. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a heap-based overflow vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-122. A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc(). As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: txgbe: fix heap overflow when reading module EEPROM txgbe_read_eeprom_hostif() always copies round_up(length, 4) bytes into the caller buffer, which ethtool allocates with exactly 'length' bytes. A non-4-aligned length therefore causes an out-of-bounds write. Copy only the remaining bytes on the final dword instead.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-68440 since 07/30/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/12/2026).

Upgrading to version 7.1.6 or 7.2-rc5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch febcced6958158e7e90a55a8567b3f5c3639c0b9/6a905a71fd43ce8b45f05044b11491337f232c9d is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 7.1.0
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.4
• 7.1.5
• 7.2-rc1
• 7.2-rc2
• 7.2-rc3
• 7.2-rc4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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