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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-45840

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.258 / 5.15.209 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
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.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 3.17, < 5.10.258>= 5.11, < 5.15.209>= 5.16, < 6.1.175>= 6.2, < 6.6.141>= 6.7, < 6.12.91>= 6.13, < 6.18.33>= 6.19, < 7.0.10

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.10.258 / 5.15.209 / 6.1.175 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2585.15.2096.1.175
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel >= 5.10.258 (for 5.10.x), >= 5.15.209 (for 5.15.x), >= 6.1.175 (for 6.1.x), or >= 6.6.141 (for 6.2-6.6.x)

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which stable kernel branch your current version belongs to (e.g., 5.10.x, 5.15.x, 6.1.x, 6.2-6.6.x)
  3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix: for 5.10.x branch to >= 5.10.258, for 5.15.x to >= 5.15.209, for 6.1.x to >= 6.1.175, or for 6.2-6.6.x to >= 6.6.141
  4. If using a distribution-provided kernel, check for and apply distribution-specific security updates that include this fix
  5. Reboot the system after applying the kernel update to load the fixed kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming ovs_vport_set_upcall_portids() now enforces the nr_cpu_ids limit
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility changes with out-of-tree drivers or modules; ensure dependent kernel modules are rebuilt for the new version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

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Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-45840 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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