vhost: fix vhost_get_avail_idx for a non empty ring
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Adjacent network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vhost: fix vhost_get_avail_idx for a non empty ring vhost_get_avail_idx is supposed to report whether it has updated vq->avail_idx. Instead, it returns whether all entries have been consumed, which is usually the same. But not always - in drivers/vhost/net.c and when mergeable buffers have been enabled, the driver checks whether the combined entries are big enough to store an incoming packet. If not, the driver re-enables notifications with available entries still in the ring. The incorrect return value from vhost_get_avail_idx propagates through vhost_enable_notify and causes the host to livelock if the guest is not making progress, as vhost will immediately disable notifications and retry using the available entries. This goes back to commit d3bb267bbdcb ("vhost: cache avail index in vhost_enable_notify()") which changed vhost_enable_notify() to compare the freshly read avail index against vq->last_avail_idx instead of the previously cached vq->avail_idx. Commit 7ad472397667 ("vhost: move smp_rmb() into vhost_get_avail_idx()") then carried over the same comparison when refactoring vhost_enable_notify() to call the unified vhost_get_avail_idx(). The obvious fix is to make vhost_get_avail_idx do what the comment says it does and report whether new entries have been added.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-74356
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-pp6m-qvmq-968c
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/Linux@0fe5ca2d56f0122988016e415a074c95925504b7, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@7536f8f72bd24f1ae316c24231faaa3667eba837 · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
References
Other 6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7536f8f72bd24f1ae316c24231faaa3667eba837
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0fe5ca2d56f0122988016e415a074c95925504b7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e115471008111f894c6528d9ab2ce7d0ce306f35
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7f229d27bf27c7e589eca690d8612763a7a4801f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a9326b652bc7acd748d7a1143573845c7924d847
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/09861858a68342f851f71c669ac0f69865c32151
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Sources
- CVE-2026-74356 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-74356 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-pp6m-qvmq-968c · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-74356 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences