nvme-tcp: check the data direction of a C2HData PDU
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 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: nvme-tcp: check the data direction of a C2HData PDU nvme_tcp_handle_c2h_data() finds the request by command id and checks that it has a payload, but it does not check that the command asked for data to be read. A controller that answers a write command with C2HData therefore reaches nvme_tcp_recv_data(), where _copy_to_iter() hits WARN_ON_ONCE(i->data_source) and returns 0. The receive path turns that into -EFAULT and resets the controller. No data is copied, so this is not memory corruption. What a controller gets is a kernel warning it can raise at will, which is fatal on a host booted with panic_on_warn. The send path already knows the direction - it consults rq_data_dir() when it builds a command - and nvme_tcp_handle_r2t() checks the length and the offset of the request it names. The C2HData path does not check the direction at all. Reject a C2HData PDU whose command is not a read. Rejecting it fails the command and resets the controller, as the neighbouring check in this function does; what goes away is the warning. [ 6.885580] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 6.886457] WARNING: lib/iov_iter.c:193 at _copy_to_iter+0x289/0x1330, CPU#0: kworker/0:1H/71 [ 6.888137] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 71 Comm: kworker/0:1H Not tainted 7.2.0-rc5-NVMETCP-gf5098b6bae76 #1 PREEMPT(lazy) [ 6.891165] Workqueue: nvme_tcp_wq nvme_tcp_io_work [ 6.891875] RIP: 0010:_copy_to_iter+0x289/0x1330 [ 6.903739] Call Trace: [ 6.904085] <TASK> [ 6.909254] __skb_datagram_iter+0x433/0x820 [ 6.911026] skb_copy_datagram_iter+0x37/0x120 [ 6.911622] nvme_tcp_recv_skb+0xa07/0x4320 [ 6.913378] __tcp_read_sock+0x1ab/0x810 [ 6.915788] nvme_tcp_try_recv+0x152/0x1e0 [ 6.918222] nvme_tcp_io_work+0x1e4/0x6c0 [ 6.926906] </TASK> [ 6.927226] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [ 6.927878] nvme nvme0: queue 1 failed to copy request 0x71 data [ 6.928709] nvme nvme0: receive failed: -14
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.270, 5.15.221, 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.110, 6.18.51, 7.2.5, 7.3
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 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-89973
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-9393-xpw8-3983
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-24 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-24 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/df74950ba6008655d4a977d17df7faf4b6e52b74
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/980d990f3c0560d7dfbfbf14699651fdf02f26ee
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5b115d932f6e769ac80783fb18edd21b0aed256e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0673a2affe45ca76b60de31a83c67b1e60f81bde
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/80d56202fbdff8906be6954b2776e5c14a4026f2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b4af7999a998787d5eb6facb5a333e04a4f1d2d9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a0c389b8a495bda1eb719d2503853c924b7a8355
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f83af377c148f6ad94b41c0e8313f12adf45e1c1
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Sources
- CVE-2026-89973 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-89973 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-9393-xpw8-3983 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-89973 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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