Linux Kernel up to 7.1.7/7.2-rc5 Zero-Copy Tx Batch Parser xsk_tx_peek_release_desc_batch buffer overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.7/7.2-rc5. It has been rated as very critical. Affected is the function xsk_tx_peek_release_desc_batch of the component Zero-Copy Tx Batch Parser. Performing a manipulation results in buffer overflow. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-74558. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.7/7.2-rc5. This affects the function xsk_tx_peek_release_desc_batch of the component Zero-Copy Tx Batch Parser. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a buffer overflow vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-120. The product copies an input buffer to an output buffer without verifying that the size of the input buffer is less than the size of the output buffer, leading to a buffer overflow. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: reclaim invalid Tx descriptors in ZC batch path The zero-copy Tx batch parser stops when it encounters an invalid descriptor. If this happens after one or more continuation descriptors, the Tx consumer can be advanced past fragments that are neither submitted to the driver nor returned to userspace through the completion ring. A similar problem occurs when a packet exceeds xdp_zc_max_segs. The descriptors consumed up to the limit are released without completion, and the remaining continuation descriptors can subsequently be interpreted as the beginning of another packet. Parse Tx batches in packet units and distinguish descriptors belonging to complete valid packets from descriptors consumed while draining an invalid or oversized packet. Return the former to the driver and append the latter to the CQ address area so userspace can reclaim their UMEM frames. Treat a standalone invalid descriptor as a one-descriptor reclaim-only packet. Advancing the Tx-ring consumer releases the ring slot, but does not by itself return ownership of the referenced UMEM frame to userspace. Once draining starts, continue until the packet's end-of-packet descriptor is consumed. Preserve the drain state on the socket when EOP has not yet been supplied, so draining can continue during a later call. Leave incomplete but otherwise valid packets on the Tx ring. Shared-UMEM pools using multi-buffer Tx also need packet-framed parsing. Walk their Tx sockets one packet at a time, preserving the existing per-socket fairness scheme, instead of using the legacy one-descriptor fallback. Keep that fallback for shared pools that do not use multi-buffer Tx. Since the drain state is maintained per socket and both the singular and shared paths can resume an interrupted drain, changing the socket list from singular to shared requires no special bind-time transition. CQ entries are positional, and drivers may complete only part of the Tx work returned by xsk_tx_peek_release_desc_batch(). Therefore, reclaim-only entries cannot be published immediately when earlier driver-visible descriptors are still outstanding. Track the number of driver-visible CQ entries preceding the reclaim entries. Let xsk_tx_completed() publish partial hardware Tx completions, and publish the reclaim entries only after every earlier Tx descriptor has completed. Complete a reclaim-only batch immediately when there is no driver-visible work in front of it, and prevent another Tx batch from being appended while reclaim entries remain pending. Also cap batch processing by the size of the pool's temporary descriptor array, as Tx rings belonging to sockets sharing a UMEM may have different sizes. This ensures that every invalid Tx descriptor consumed by the ZC batch path is either submitted to the driver as part of a valid packet or returned to userspace without violating CQ completion ordering.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-74558 since 08/15/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026).

Upgrading to version 7.1.8 or 7.2-rc6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch e7ce2bad0c33471c8da4dd73dff2119a68f96f3a/72f2b4516faf55d4dfac2414649d3cffa5fd2c5e 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
• 7.1.6
• 7.1.7
• 7.2-rc1
• 7.2-rc2
• 7.2-rc3
• 7.2-rc4
• 7.2-rc5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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