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CVE-2026-68293
net/mlx5: Fix MCIA register buffer overflow on 32 dword reads
Published 2026-08-10 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/net. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-68293 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 | vulnerable | 6.1.190-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series bookworm tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for bookworm have historically landed a median of 23 days after publication. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.101-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.101-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 12bookworm · linux-6.12 | fixedDLA-4745-1 · 2026-08-18 · text | 6.12.101-1~deb12u1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4745-1 shipped the fix on 2026-08-18, in 6.12.101-1~deb12u1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
The MCIA register can return up to 32 dwords (128 bytes) when the device advertises the mcia_32dwords capability, but struct mlx5_ifc_mcia_reg_bits only defines dword_0..11, leaving room for just 12 dwords (48 bytes) of data. mlx5_query_mcia() clamps the read size to mlx5_mcia_max_bytes() and then memcpy()s that many bytes out of the register, potentially reading past the end of the 'out' buffer. On kernels built with FORTIFY_SOURCE this is caught as a buffer overflow while reading the module EEPROM via ethtool: detected buffer overflow in memcpy kernel BUG at lib/string_helpers.c:1048! RIP: 0010:fortify_panic+0x13/0x20 Call Trace: mlx5_query_mcia.isra.0+0x200/0x210 [mlx5_core] mlx5_query_module_eeprom_by_page+0x4a/0xa0 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_get_module_eeprom_by_page+0xbb/0x120 [mlx5_core] eeprom_prepare_data+0xf3/0x170 ethnl_default_doit+0xf1/0x3b0 Extend the mcia_reg layout to 32 dwords.
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/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/port.c
include/linux/mlx5/mlx5_ifc.h
- What this is
- MELLANOX MLX5 core VPI driverMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/ · netdev@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- mlx5_core
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_ETHERNET|CONFIG_MLX5_CORE|CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_MELLANOX' /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 mlx5_corePrints 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.
- bookwormm
- trixieMnot built on armel/rpi
- forky, sid, bookworm · linux-6.12m
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switches
- CONFIG_ETHERNET, CONFIG_MLX5_CORE, CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_MELLANOX
- 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
- 2026-08-10 (2 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 7.1 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- local (AV:L)source
- EPSS
- 0.14%, higher than 2.9% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/net
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 5.18 | 6.12.101 | 5be4eebd5a3a |
| 5.18 | 6.18.42 | 87b39a8c875c |
| 5.18 | 7.1.6 | 88b2a16ddac3 |
| 5.18 | 7.2 | 11c057d23465 |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4745-1 | 2026-08-18 | bookworm 6.12.101-1~deb12u1 | 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:LAttack vector, local
- The bug is reached only through local ethtool interfaces on the mlx5 netdev — the ETHTOOL_MSG_MODULE_EEPROM_GET genetlink message or the ETHTOOL_GMODULEEEPROM ioctl on a socket. No remote peer or received packet can trigger it.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- A single ethtool module-EEPROM read of 128 bytes deterministically triggers the over-read on any adapter whose firmware advertises mcia_32dwords, which is the normal case on modern ConnectX hardware with a transceiver installed. No race, no memory-layout grooming, fully repeatable.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- Both entry points check ns_capable(net->user_ns, CAP_NET_ADMIN), which is namespace-relative, so the root of an unprivileged user namespace owning a netns that holds an mlx5 VF/subfunction netdev (a standard SR-IOV container setup) can trigger it without any privilege in the initial namespace.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- The attacker triggers the read entirely on their own by issuing an ethtool query; no action by another user or administrator is needed.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The out-of-bounds read and its consequences are confined to the kernel of the same host; no VM, IOMMU, or other security-authority boundary is crossed.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- Up to 80 bytes of kernel stack adjacent to the 64-byte 'out' buffer are memcpy()'d into the EEPROM data returned to userspace, disclosing saved registers, pointers and potentially return addresses or the stack canary — enough to defeat KASLR and stack protection and aid further exploitation.
- I:NIntegrity impact, none
- The defect is purely a read overflow; the destination buffer is sized from the caller's own request length, so no kernel memory is written out of bounds and no data is modified.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- On the widely enabled CONFIG_FORTIFY_SOURCE the copy hits fortify_panic(), producing a kernel BUG/oops in mlx5_query_mcia() while rtnl/netdev locks are held (per the reported trace), wedging networking and panicking outright with panic_on_oops.