Buffer leak in Linux kernel axienet driver on interface stop
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Fixed
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
The axienet Ethernet driver for Xilinx devices in the Linux kernel is affected from 6.8. In the dmaengine path, the driver does not free socket buffers and their DMA mappings that the engine still owns when the interface stops, and a race in the RX completion callback can leave a buffer armed after teardown. The leak can eventually exhaust a limited IOMMU aperture.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: xilinx: axienet: Free outstanding DMA buffers on dmaengine stop In the dmaengine path the driver pre-submits RX buffers and holds in-flight TX buffers whose SKBs are DMA-mapped by the driver and freed only in the completion callbacks. On ndo_stop() dmaengine_terminate_sync() aborts these descriptors without running their callbacks, and the driver then frees only the ring shells, leaking every SKB still owned by the engine and its DMA mapping on each ifdown. With 128 RX buffers pre-posted per channel, the mapping leak can eventually exhaust a limited IOMMU aperture. Clear the slot's skb in the TX and RX callbacks so a non-NULL skb marks a slot that still owns a live, DMA-mapped buffer, and on stop unmap and free every such buffer. axienet_dma_rx_cb() runs from the DMA tasklet and re-arms the RX ring on each completion, so it can race axienet_stop(): a completion may submit a fresh buffer after dmaengine_terminate_sync() has returned, leaving the channel armed with a buffer the teardown then frees while the engine may still write into it (dma_release_channel() does not stop it either). Add a lock that axienet_dma_rx_cb() holds across the @stopping check and the resubmit, and axienet_stop() holds to set @stopping before terminating. Once @stopping is set no callback can arm a new buffer, and any armed just before is aborted by the terminate, so teardown only frees buffers the engine no longer owns.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Fixed versions are Linux kernel 6.12.114, 6.18.58, 7.2.11 and 7.3. The sources list no advisory identifier for this fix.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.12.114, 6.18.58, 7.2.11, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 7 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5
Timeline
- 2026-10-23 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-99028
- 2026-10-23 Alias added: GHSA-5xgg-2g43-r4gh
- 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-29 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
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Sources
- CVE-2026-99028 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-99028 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-5xgg-2g43-r4gh · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-99028 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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