{"id":"CVE-2026-99046","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-99046"],"related":[],"title":"Linux kernel: gve driver leaks AF_XDP buffers on bad RX descriptors","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\ngve: fix XSK buffer leak on error descriptor\n\nWhen the error bit is set in the RX completion descriptor, the buf_state\nand its attached buffer should be freed. In the case of AF_XDP ZC, the\nXSK buffer was not freed, leading to a leak.\n\nThis issue was caught by LLM.","summary":"The Google Virtual Ethernet (gve) driver in the Linux kernel did not free an AF_XDP zero-copy buffer when the receive completion descriptor carried an error bit, so buffers leaked. The sources describe a resource leak and do not say that an attacker can run code or read data.","severity":"unknown","cvss":null,"epss":0.00206,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["af-xdp","gcp","infrastructure","linux-kernel"],"not_affected_if":["no-af-xdp-zero-copy"],"how_to_check":"- unknown","fix":"- unknown","status":"open","published_at":"2026-10-23T13:17:28+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-25T04:54:08+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-25T12:38:50+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.5,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-25T04:54:08Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"- unknown","reach":"unknown","title":"Linux kernel: gve driver leaks AF_XDP buffers on bad RX descriptors","impact":"low","summary":"The Google Virtual Ethernet (gve) driver in the Linux kernel did not free an AF_XDP zero-copy buffer when the receive completion descriptor carried an error bit, so buffers leaked. The sources describe a resource leak and do not say that an attacker can run code or read data.","category":"infrastructure","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["linux-kernel","gcp","af-xdp"],"confidence":0.5,"needs_auth":"unknown","worst_case":"Buffer leak exhausts memory on the receive path","analyst_note":"Find the kernel commit and affected version ranges in the NVD entry or the kernel stable tree to confirm the fix version and exposure.","how_to_check":"- unknown","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["no-af-xdp-zero-copy"],"who_is_affected":"Systems running a Linux kernel with the gve driver (Google Compute Engine VMs) that use AF_XDP zero-copy sockets are the ones where this path runs. unknown whether the sources list affected kernel versions or whether an attacker can trigger the error path from the network.","user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"yes","severity_if_unknown":"low"},"cost_usd":0.000573,"input_tokens":3339,"output_tokens":479,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-2026':14A,17A '-99046':15A,18A 'af':6A,20B,41B,121C 'af-xdp':19B 'attach':112C 'attack':71B 'bad':10A 'bit':55B,99C 'buf':108C 'buffer':8A,46B,57B,91C,113C,126C 'carri':52B 'case':119C 'caught':137C 'code':74B 'complet':50B,105C 'copi':45B 'cve':13A,16A 'data':77B 'describ':61B 'descriptor':12A,51B,95C,106C 'driver':4A,32B 'error':54B,94C,98C 'ethernet':30B 'fix':89C 'follow':83C 'free':39B 'freed':116C,129C 'gcp':22B 'googl':28B 'gve':3A,31B,88C 'infrastructur':23B 'issu':135C 'kernel':2A,26B,36B,81C 'lead':130C 'leak':5A,58B,64B,92C,133C 'linux':1A,25B,35B,80C 'linux-kernel':24B 'llm':139C 'read':76B 'receiv':49B 'resolv':87C 'resourc':63B 'run':73B 'rx':11A,104C 'say':68B 'set':101C 'sourc':60B 'state':109C 'virtual':29B 'vulner':84C 'xdp':7A,21B,42B,122C 'xsk':90C,125C 'zc':123C 'zero':44B 'zero-copi':43B","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Systems running a Linux kernel with the gve driver (Google Compute Engine VMs) that use AF_XDP zero-copy sockets are the ones where this path runs. unknown whether the sources list affected kernel versions or whether an attacker can trigger the error path from the network.","tier":"C","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-10-23T13:17:28+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":null,"cvss_by":null,"poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-99046","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-99046","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-10-23T13:17:28+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-23T13:17:28+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:03+00:00","note":null},{"source":"epss","external_id":"CVE-2026-99046","url":"https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-99046","severity":null,"published_at":null,"modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-10-25T12:38:50+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-25T12:38:50+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}