CVE-2026-97570
Received Received - Intake

Buffer Overflow in Linux Kernel bnxt_en Driver

Publication date: 2026-09-25

Last updated on: 2026-09-25

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bnxt_en: Bound SW TPA IDs to prevent crashes FW supports up to 1024 concurrent TPAs, so the FW TPA ID is in the range 0..1023 (see commit ec4d8e7cf024 ("bnxt_en: Add TPA ID mapping logic for 57500 chips.")). bnxt_alloc_agg_idx is intended to wrap the FW ID down to a software ID which is used to index rxr->rx_tpa, and to generate a mapping between FW IDs and the wrapped software ID. On a 57608 with firmware version 233, the firmware advertises 32 concurrent TPAs. As of the commit under fixes, bp->max_tpa on this NIC is set to 32. If the software ID from bnxt_alloc_agg_idx is above 31, this results in an invalid address being loaded on this line: tpa_info = &rxr->rx_tpa[agg_id]; because rx_tpa is allocated with only bp->max_tpa (32) entries. Writes to tpa_info later in the code are out of bounds. This bug results in a crash at boot: Oops: general protection fault, kernel NULL pointer dereference 0x8: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI RIP: 0010:bnxt_rx_pkt+0xc0/0x1560 RSP: 0018:ffffc900009b8c78 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000048 RCX: 0000000206682516 RDX: ffffc900009b8db4 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 01ffffff038fe1c0 RBP: ffffc9006e687480 R08: ffffc9006e687000 R09: 0000000000003048 R10: 0000000000000480 R11: ffff8881c6083900 R12: 0000000006682516 R13: ffff8881c6095400 R14: 0000000000000016 R15: ffff8881c6b66680 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88fef3c77000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007fc8bda40584 CR3: 000000807c812001 CR4: 0000000008772ef0 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <IRQ> ? __netif_receive_skb_list_core+0x1ca/0x250 __bnxt_poll_work+0x152/0x280 bnxt_poll_p5+0x1cd/0x480 __napi_poll+0x30/0x180 net_rx_action+0x20b/0x3b0 ? note_gp_changes+0x53/0xe0 ? tick_setup_sched_timer+0x180/0x180 ? __napi_schedule+0x9a/0xb0 ? bnxt_msix+0x24/0x30 handle_softirqs+0xdd/0x2c0 __irq_exit_rcu.llvm.3171231171502365008+0x47/0xf0 common_interrupt+0x85/0x90 </IRQ> <TASK> asm_common_interrupt+0x22/0x40 This stack trace is from a crash triggered when an out of bounds rx_tpa is dereferenced. The invalid write mentioned above is silent in this particular crash. Fix this by allocating rx_tpa with bp->max_tpa rounded up to the next power of 2 (bp->max_tpa_roundup_size) entries and masking the FW TPA ID with that size, so the wrapped ID can never index past the end of the array.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-09-25
Last Modified
2026-09-25
Generated
2026-09-25
AI Q&A
2026-09-25
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-97570
EUVD
EUVD-2026-86878

Affected Vendors & Products

Currently, no data is known.

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Exploitability

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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel's bnxt_en driver allows out-of-bounds memory access due to improper handling of TPA (TCP Segmentation Offload) IDs. The firmware supports up to 1024 concurrent TPAs, but the driver incorrectly maps these to a smaller software ID array. When the software ID exceeds the array size, it causes a crash at boot with a kernel NULL pointer dereference.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability is specific to the Linux kernel's bnxt_en driver and may cause crashes during boot or network operations. Detection requires checking kernel logs for crashes or errors related to bnxt_en, such as 'general protection fault' or 'kernel NULL pointer dereference' messages.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause system crashes at boot, leading to denial of service. It may also allow unauthorized memory access or privilege escalation if exploited. Systems using affected Broadcom NetXtreme network cards with specific firmware versions are vulnerable.

Mitigation Strategies

Update the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix for this vulnerability. The fix involves allocating rx_tpa with bp->max_tpa rounded up to the next power of 2 and masking the FW TPA ID. Check your distribution's security updates or kernel patches.

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