critical CVSS 9.8

CVE-2026-53088·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: bcmgenet: fix off-by-one in bcmgenet_put_txcb The write_ptr points to the next open tx_cb. We want to return the tx_cb that gets rewinded, so we must rewind the pointer first then return the tx_cb that it points to. That way the txcb can be correctly cleaned up.

Severity
critical
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
7.0.10
Published

Affected versions

From: 6.19

Until: 7.0.10

Fixed in: 7.0.10

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 7.0.10 or later to resolve a critical pointer management flaw in the bcmgenet network driver. This fix corrects an off-by-one error in transmit buffer cleanup that could lead to memory corruption and system instability. Apply the kernel update immediately followed by a system reboot to activate the patched version.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel && sudo reboot

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Check your installed kernel version with: uname -r — vulnerable if output shows version 6.19 through 7.0.9
  2. Verify if bcmgenet driver is loaded: lsmod | grep bcmgenet — if output is empty, the driver is not in use and exposure is minimal
  3. Check for bcmgenet network interfaces: ip link show | grep -i bcm — confirms if the vulnerable driver is actively managing network traffic
  4. After patching, verify the fix: uname -r should display kernel 7.0.10 or higher, confirming the update was successful

FAQ

What is CVE-2026-53088?

CVE-2026-53088 is a critical kernel vulnerability in the Broadcom bcmgenet network driver where an off-by-one error in transmit buffer pointer management causes incorrect cleanup of network packet descriptors, potentially leading to memory corruption and denial of service.

Is CVE-2026-53088 being actively exploited?

No — this vulnerability is not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and no public exploits are available. However, given its critical CVSS score of 9.8, it should be prioritized for immediate patching.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2026-53088?

Linux kernel versions 6.19 through 7.0.9 are affected. Kernel 7.0.10 and later versions contain the fix.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2026-53088?

Run 'uname -r' to check your kernel version — if it shows 6.19 through 7.0.9 and 'lsmod | grep bcmgenet' returns a result, your system is vulnerable.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2026-53088?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If Kernel is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2026-53088 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

Related Kernel CVEs

CVE-2026-63795CVSS 10In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: 9p: avoid putting oldfid in p9_client_walk() error path When p9_client_walk() is called with clone set to false, fid aliases oldfid. If the walk subsequently fails after the request has been sent, the error path jumps to clunk_fid, which currently calls p9_fid_put(fid) unconditionally. This drops a reference to oldfid even though ownership of oldfid remains with the caller. If this is the last reference, oldfid can be clunked and destroyed while the caller still expects it to be valid. A later use or put of oldfid can then trigger a use-after-free or refcount underflow. Fix this by only putting fid in the clunk_fid error path when it does not alias oldfid, matching the existing guard in the error path below. This can be triggered when a multi-component walk is split into multiple p9_client_walk() calls and a later non-cloning walk fails. A reproducer and refcount warning logs are available on request.
CVE-2026-53086CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: bcmgenet: fix racing timeout handler The bcmgenet_timeout handler tries to take down all tx queues when a single queue times out. This is over zealous and causes many race conditions with queues that are still chugging along. Instead lets only restart the timed out queue.
CVE-2026-52993CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tipc: fix double-free in tipc_buf_append() tipc_msg_validate() can potentially reallocate the skb it is validating, freeing the old one. In tipc_buf_append(), it was being called with a pointer to a local variable which was a copy of the caller's skb pointer. If the skb was reallocated and validation subsequently failed, the error handling path would free the original skb pointer, which had already been freed, leading to double-free. Fix this by checking if head now points to a newly allocated reassembled skb. If it does, reassign *headbuf for later freeing operations.
CVE-2026-52982CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: usb: rtl8150: fix use-after-free in rtl8150_start_xmit() syzbot reported a KASAN slab-use-after-free read in rtl8150_start_xmit() when accessing skb->len for tx statistics after usb_submit_urb() has been called: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in rtl8150_start_xmit+0x71f/0x760 drivers/net/usb/rtl8150.c:712 Read of size 4 at addr ffff88810eb7a930 by task kworker/0:4/5226 The URB completion handler write_bulk_callback() frees the skb via dev_kfree_skb_irq(dev->tx_skb). The URB may complete on another CPU in softirq context before usb_submit_urb() returns in the submitter, so by the time the submitter reads skb->len the skb has already been queued to the per-CPU completion_queue and freed by net_tx_action(): CPU A (xmit) CPU B (USB completion softirq) ------------ ------------------------------ dev->tx_skb = skb; usb_submit_urb() --+ |-------> write_bulk_callback() | dev_kfree_skb_irq(dev->tx_skb) | net_tx_action() | napi_skb_cache_put() <-- free netdev->stats.tx_bytes | += skb->len; <-- UAF read Fix it by caching skb->len before submitting the URB and using the cached value when updating the tx_bytes counter. The pre-existing tx_bytes semantics are preserved: the counter tracks the original frame length (skb->len), not the ETH_ZLEN/USB-alignment padded "count" value that is handed to the device. Changing that would be a user-visible accounting change and is out of scope for this UAF fix.
CVE-2026-64113CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ixgbevf: fix use-after-free in VEPA multicast source pruning ixgbevf_clean_rx_irq() prunes frames whose source MAC matches the VF's own address (VEPA multicast workaround) by freeing the skb and continuing to the next descriptor: dev_kfree_skb_irq(skb); continue; The skb pointer is declared outside the while loop and persists across iterations. Because the continue skips the "skb = NULL" reset at the bottom of the loop, the next iteration enters the "else if (skb)" path and calls ixgbevf_add_rx_frag() on the freed skb, dereferencing skb_shinfo(skb)->nr_frags - a use-after-free in NAPI softirq context. The sibling driver iavf already handles this correctly by nulling the pointer before continuing. Apply the same pattern here. I do not have ixgbevf hardware; the bug was found by static analysis (scan_drop_continue_loops.py + semgrep drop_continue_in_loop, multi-tool corroboration with the highest score in the scan). The UAF was confirmed under KASAN by loading a test module that reproduces the exact code pattern (alloc skb, kfree_skb, then read skb_shinfo(skb)->nr_frags): BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ixgbevf_uaf_test_init+0x100/0x1000 Read of size 8 at addr 000000006163ae78 by task insmod/30 freed 208-byte region [000000006163adc0, 000000006163ae90) QEMU emulates igb (82576) but not ixgbe (82599), and the igbvf VF driver does not include the VEPA source pruning path, so a full end-to-end reproduction with emulated hardware was not possible.

References

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