CVE-2026-23313
Preempt Count Leak in Linux i40e Driver Causes SoftIRQ Issues
Publication date: 2026-03-25
Last updated on: 2026-04-27
Assigner: kernel.org
Description
Description
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | * |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-UNKNOWN |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
This vulnerability is related to the Linux kernel's i40e driver, where a preempt count leak occurs in the napi poll tracepoint. Specifically, the use of get_cpu() in the tracepoint assignment increases the preempt count without a corresponding put_cpu() call to decrease it, causing an imbalance.
This leads to the system entering a softirq (software interrupt) state with an incorrect preempt count, which can affect kernel behavior and stability.
The fix replaces get_cpu() with smp_processor_id() to avoid this preempt count leak.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
The preempt count leak caused by this vulnerability can lead to incorrect kernel preemption behavior during network packet processing.
This may result in system instability or unexpected behavior in the network driver, potentially affecting performance or causing kernel issues under certain workloads.
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
The vulnerability is fixed by replacing the use of get_cpu() with smp_processor_id() in the Linux kernel's i40e driver to avoid a preempt count leak.
To mitigate this vulnerability immediately, you should update your Linux kernel to a version that includes this fix.