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CVE-2026-53176
IB/isert: Reject login PDUs shorter than ISER_HEADERS_LEN
Published 2026-06-25 (4 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/infiniband. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-53176 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | fixedDLA-4665-1 · 2026-07-03 · text | 6.1.176-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4665-1 shipped the fix on 2026-07-03, in 6.1.176-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.94-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.94-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.0.13-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.0.13-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.0.13-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.0.13-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
In drivers/infiniband/ulp/isert/ib_isert.c, isert_login_recv_done() computes the login request payload length as wc->byte_len minus ISER_HEADERS_LEN with no lower bound, and login_req_len is a signed int. A remote iSER initiator can post a login Send work request carrying fewer than ISER_HEADERS_LEN (76) bytes, so the subtraction underflows and login_req_len becomes negative. isert_rx_login_req() then reads that negative length back into a signed int, takes size = min(rx_buflen, MAX_KEY_VALUE_PAIRS), and because the min() is signed it keeps the negative value; the value is then passed as the memcpy() length and sign-extended to a multi-gigabyte size_t. The copy into the 8192-byte login->req_buf runs far out of bounds and faults, crashing the target node. The login phase precedes iSCSI authentication, so no credentials are required to reach this path. Reject any login PDU shorter than ISER_HEADERS_LEN before the subtraction, mirroring the existing early return on a failed work completion, so login_req_len can never go negative. The upper bound was already safe: a posted login buffer cannot deliver more than ISER_RX_PAYLOAD_SIZE, so the difference stays at or below MAX_KEY_VALUE_PAIRS and the existing min() clamps it; only the missing lower bound needs to be added.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
drivers/infiniband/ulp/isert/ib_isert.c
- What this is
- ISCSI EXTENSIONS FOR RDMA (ISER) TARGETMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/infiniband/ulp/isert · linux-rdma@vger.kernel.org · Supported
- Kernel module
- ib_isert
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_INFINIBAND|CONFIG_INFINIBAND_ISERT' /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w ib_isertPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sidMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switches
- CONFIG_INFINIBAND, CONFIG_INFINIBAND_ISERT
- Reads as
- all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-06-25 (4 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 9.8 critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- network (AV:N)source
- EPSS
- 0.76%, higher than 54.5% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/infiniband
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 3.10 | 5.10.259 | 75ee6e4aa096 |
| 3.10 | 5.15.210 | e8a013c0c3ca |
| 3.10 | 6.1.176 | bd22740d7f14 |
| 3.10 | 6.6.143 | c1234229399f |
| 3.10 | 6.12.94 | c5584e089b5a |
| 3.10 | 6.18.36 | df422fd273c9 |
| 3.10 | 7.0.13 | 1ca40b243277 |
| 3.10 | 7.1 | 29e7b925ae6d |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4671-1 | 2026-07-05 | bullseye 6.1.176-1~deb11u1 | tracker |
| DLA-4665-1 | 2026-07-03 | bookworm 6.1.176-1 | tracker |
| DLA-4664-1 | 2026-07-03 | bullseye 5.10.259-1 | tracker |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:NAttack vector, network
- The vulnerable code is reached by a remote iSER initiator over an RDMA/iSER target portal using RDMA CM and posted Send login PDUs. This is network protocol input to a kernel storage target service.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- The attacker only needs to establish an iSER connection and send a login PDU shorter than ISER_HEADERS_LEN. No race or condition outside the attacker's control is required.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- The vulnerable memcpy occurs during iSCSI login processing before CHAP/authentication, initiator ACL checks, and normal session authorization complete. No credentials are required.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- Exploitation is triggered solely by attacker-sent network/RDMA traffic to the exposed target portal. No victim user action is required.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The impact is within the kernel and target host security authority. There is no VM, IOMMU, or other cross-scope boundary involved.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- The signed underflow drives an out-of-bounds kernel memcpy that reads far beyond the receive buffer. As kernel memory corruption with an out-of-bounds read component, high confidentiality impact is the higher defensible choice.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The same oversized memcpy writes far beyond the 8192-byte login request buffer into adjacent kernel memory. This is an out-of-bounds write and may be exploitable for kernel memory corruption, so integrity impact is high.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- The commit and code path show the huge memcpy faults and crashes the iSER target node. A remote unauthenticated attacker can repeatedly trigger kernel oops/panic-level denial of service.