Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52 stmmac stmmac_rx_refill resource consumption

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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7.2$0-$5k0.00+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as critical has been discovered in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52. This issue affects the function stmmac_rx_refill of the component stmmac. The manipulation results in resource consumption. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-93830. The attack may be performed from remote. There is no available exploit. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.110/6.18.52. It has been classified as critical. Affected is the function stmmac_rx_refill of the component stmmac. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a resource consumption vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-400. The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource, thereby enabling an actor to influence the amount of resources consumed, eventually leading to the exhaustion of available resources. This is going to have an impact on availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: stmmac: xgmac2: disable RBUE in default RX interrupt mask Enabling the RX Buffer Unavailable (RBUE) interrupt is counterproductive and can trigger a MAC interrupt storm under heavy RX pressure. When the DMA runs out of RX descriptors it fires RBUE continuously until software refills the ring. However, RBUE is redundant: the normal RX completion interrupt (RIE) already triggers NAPI, which processes completed descriptors and refills the ring, causing the DMA to resume. The RBUE handler itself only sets handle_rx - the same outcome as RIE. On Agilex5 under heavy RX pressure, the MAC interrupt (which includes RBUE) was observed firing 1,821,811,555 times against only 2,618,627 actual RX completions - a ~695x ratio - confirming the severity of the storm. RBUE does not provide OOM recovery. If page_pool is exhausted, stmmac_rx_refill() cannot advance the DMA tail pointer, the DMA stays suspended, and RBUE fires again on the next NAPI completion - a storm with no forward progress. This patch trades that storm for a clean stall with the same RX outcome. Proper OOM recovery is a pre-existing gap outside the scope of this fix. Note: as a consequence of disabling RBUE, the rx_buf_unav_irq ethtool counter will always read 0 on XGMAC2 devices. This behaviour is already inconsistent across DWMAC core versions. Remove RBUE from XGMAC_DMA_INT_DEFAULT_EN and XGMAC_DMA_INT_DEFAULT_RX to prevent the interrupt storm while keeping normal RX handling intact.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-93830 since 09/18/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploitation doesn't require any form of authentication. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/24/2026). This vulnerability is assigned to T1499 by the MITRE ATT&CK project.

Upgrading to version 6.12.111 or 6.18.53 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 0b1a5d3647ce07c27a9fffefc11a8cbf7d7b25ce/87e2826ed2058747ddf014c082569a46bfadd96b/d3265c19b35d036bba327b36b5366bee76b0157c is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

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Version

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.2

VulDB Base Score: 7.5
VulDB Temp Score: 7.2
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Resource consumption
CWE: CWE-400 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.12.111/6.18.53
Patch: 0b1a5d3647ce07c27a9fffefc11a8cbf7d7b25ce/87e2826ed2058747ddf014c082569a46bfadd96b/d3265c19b35d036bba327b36b5366bee76b0157c

Timelineinfo

09/18/2026 CVE reserved
09/24/2026 +6 days Advisory disclosed
09/24/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/24/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-93830 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-93830
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-409578

Entryinfo

Created: 09/24/2026 19:24
Changes: 09/24/2026 19:24 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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