CVE-2026-45840: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: openvswitch: cap upcall PID array size and pre-size vport replies The vport netl...

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: openvswitch: cap upcall PID array size and pre-size vport replies The vport netlink reply helpers allocate a fixed-size skb with nlmsg_new(NLMSG_DEFAULT_SIZE, ...) but serialize the full upcall PID array via ovs_vport_get_upcall_portids(). Since ovs_vport_set_upcall_portids() accepts any non-zero multiple of sizeof(u32) with no upper bound, a CAP_NET_ADMIN user can install a PID array large enough to overflow the reply buffer, causing nla_put() to fail with -EMSGSIZE and hitting BUG_ON(err < 0). On systems with unprivileged user namespaces enabled (e.g., Ubuntu default), this is reachable via unshare -Urn since OVS vport mutation operations use GENL_UNS_ADMIN_PERM. kernel BUG at net/openvswitch/datapath.c:2414! Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 65 Comm: poc Not tainted 7.0.0-rc7-00195-geb216e422044 #1 RIP: 0010:ovs_vport_cmd_set+0x34c/0x400 Call Trace: <TASK> genl_family_rcv_msg_doit (net/netlink/genetlink.c:1116) genl_rcv_msg (net/netlink/genetlink.c:1194) netlink_rcv_skb (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2550) genl_rcv (net/netlink/genetlink.c:1219) netlink_unicast (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1344) netlink_sendmsg (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1894) __sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2206) __x64_sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2209) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:130) </TASK> Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception Reject attempts to set more PIDs than nr_cpu_ids in ovs_vport_set_upcall_portids(), and pre-compute the worst-case reply size in ovs_vport_cmd_msg_size() based on that bound, similar to the existing ovs_dp_cmd_msg_size(). nr_cpu_ids matches the cap already used by the per-CPU dispatch configuration on the datapath side (ovs_dp_cmd_fill_info() serialises at most nr_cpu_ids PIDs), so the two sides stay consistent.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

5.5/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS Probability

0.18%

7.7th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 3.17, < 5.10.258
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 5.11, < 5.15.209
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 5.16, < 6.1.175
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.2, < 6.6.141
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.7, < 6.12.91
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.13, < 6.18.33
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.19, < 7.0.10

References

Timeline

Published: May 27, 2026
Last Modified: Jun 26, 2026
Status: Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-45840?

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: openvswitch: cap upcall PID array size and pre-size vport replies The vport netlink reply helpers allocate a fixed-size skb with nlmsg_new(NLMSG_DEFAULT_SIZE, ...) but serialize the full upcall PID array via ovs_vport_get_upcall_portids(). Since ovs_vport_set_upcall_portids() accepts any non-zero multiple of sizeof(u32) with no upper bound, a CAP_NET_ADMIN user can install a PID array large enough to overflow the reply buffer, causing nla_put() to fail with -EMSGSIZE and hitting BUG_ON(err < 0). On systems with unprivileged user namespaces enabled (e.g., Ubuntu default), this is reachable via unshare -Urn since OVS vport mutation operations use GENL_UNS_ADMIN_PERM. kernel BUG at net/openvswitch/datapath.c:2414! Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 65 Comm: poc Not tainted 7.0.0-rc7-00195-geb216e422044 #1 RIP: 0010:ovs_vport_cmd_set+0x34c/0x400 Call Trace: <TASK> genl_family_rcv_msg_doit (net/netlink/genetlink.c:1116) genl_rcv_msg (net/netlink/genetlink.c:1194) netlink_rcv_skb (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2550) genl_rcv (net/netlink/genetlink.c:1219) netlink_unicast (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1344) netlink_sendmsg (net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1894) __sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2206) __x64_sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2209) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:130) </TASK> Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception Reject attempts to set more PIDs than nr_cpu_ids in ovs_vport_set_upcall_portids(), and pre-compute the worst-case reply size in ovs_vport_cmd_msg_size() based on that bound, similar to the existing ovs_dp_cmd_msg_size(). nr_cpu_ids matches the cap already used by the per-CPU dispatch configuration on the datapath side (ovs_dp_cmd_fill_info() serialises at most nr_cpu_ids PIDs), so the two sides stay consistent.

How severe is CVE-2026-45840?

CVE-2026-45840 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.18% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2026-45840?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.