CVE-2026-68129 - Vulnerability Details

- gve: fix Rx queue stall on alloc failure

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

gve: fix Rx queue stall on alloc failure

When the system is under extreme memory pressure, page allocations can
fail during the Rx buffer refill loop. If the number of buffers posted
to hardware falls below a critical low threshold and the refill loop
exits due to allocation failures, the queue can stall:

1. The device drops incoming packets because there are no descriptors.
2. Since no packets are processed, no Rx completions are generated.
3. Because no completions occur, NAPI is never scheduled, preventing
the refill loop from running again even after memory is freed.

This results in a permanent queue stall.

Resolve this by introducing a starvation recovery timer for each Rx queue.
If the number of buffers posted to hardware falls below a critical low
threshold, start a timer to periodically reschedule NAPI. Once NAPI runs
and successfully refills the queue above the threshold, the timer is
not rescheduled.

The threshold is set to 32 because a single maximum-sized Receive Segment
Coalescing (RSC) packet can consume up to 19 descriptors in the Rx path.
Lower thresholds (such as 8 or 16) would be insufficient to process a
complete maximum-sized RSC packet, risking packet drops or unexpected
hardware behavior under memory pressure. Setting the threshold to 32
guarantees a safe margin to handle at least one full RSC packet.

Published: 2026-08-10

Score: 7.5 High

EPSS: < 1% Very Low

KEV: No

Impact:

Action:

Analysis

Impact

During extreme memory pressure, the Linux kernel GVE driver may fail to allocate enough receive buffers while refilling the queue. If the number of posted buffers falls below a critical threshold, the queue stalls: no packets are received, no completions are generated, and NAPI never runs again. This leads to a permanent loss of network connectivity for the affected interface and effectively denies service.

Affected Systems

The flaw affects the Linux kernel in any distribution that includes the GVE driver prior to the addition of the starvation recovery timer. All generic Linux kernels shipped upstream without the patch are vulnerable.

Risk and Exploitability

The CVSS score of 7.5 indicates moderate to high severity, and the EPSS score of <1% signals a low probability of exploitation in the wild. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV. The likely attack vector is local memory exhaustion; a privileged or compromised local user could exhaust system memory to trigger the allocation failure and stall the queue.

Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).

Vendor Product Default status Versions

Linux

unaffected

Version	Status	Constraints
`9b8dd5e5ea48bbb7532d20c4093a79d8283e4029`	affected	< 9db46e19e5d6bdcd4bf811284a5b0df1b984ef80
`9b8dd5e5ea48bbb7532d20c4093a79d8283e4029`	affected	< 42d525e751c61b876b2b0ae4e71ba7a8ab0c2777
`9b8dd5e5ea48bbb7532d20c4093a79d8283e4029`	affected	< 299d5728a7312fdd02059b074aebbe4ebbd391e4
`9b8dd5e5ea48bbb7532d20c4093a79d8283e4029`	affected	< 0c317349b4baa5038d1fc373bf46d5a2419d1710
`9b8dd5e5ea48bbb7532d20c4093a79d8283e4029`	affected	< 91e0249f3ef62b75fe8c9c9372eaba32876e4b3a
`9b8dd5e5ea48bbb7532d20c4093a79d8283e4029`	affected	< 689b9f588d2d7323dc66293fe594a68d030f400f
`9b8dd5e5ea48bbb7532d20c4093a79d8283e4029`	affected	< b65352a1bac64442ad95e64f385b40ccb9f1b0db

Linux

affected

Version	Status	Constraints
`5.14`	affected	—
`0`	unaffected	< 5.14
`5.15.216`	unaffected	≤ 5.15.*
`6.1.183`	unaffected	≤ 6.1.*
`6.6.151`	unaffected	≤ 6.6.*
`6.12.101`	unaffected	≤ 6.12.*
`6.18.42`	unaffected	≤ 6.18.*
`7.1.6`	unaffected	≤ 7.1.*
`7.2`	unaffected	≤ *

No data.

Vendor Product Confidence Versions

Linux

Linux Kernel

99%

Version	Status	Scheme	Platform
`[9b8dd5e5ea48bbb7532d20c4093a79d8283e4029,299d5728a7312fdd02059b074aebbe4ebbd391e4)`	affected	code_commit	—
`[9b8dd5e5ea48bbb7532d20c4093a79d8283e4029,0c317349b4baa5038d1fc373bf46d5a2419d1710)`	affected	code_commit	—
`[9b8dd5e5ea48bbb7532d20c4093a79d8283e4029,91e0249f3ef62b75fe8c9c9372eaba32876e4b3a)`	affected	code_commit	—
`[9b8dd5e5ea48bbb7532d20c4093a79d8283e4029,689b9f588d2d7323dc66293fe594a68d030f400f)`	affected	code_commit	—
`[9b8dd5e5ea48bbb7532d20c4093a79d8283e4029,b65352a1bac64442ad95e64f385b40ccb9f1b0db)`	affected	code_commit	—

Linux

Linux Kernel

99%

Version	Status	Scheme	Platform
`5.14`	affected	generic	—
`[0,5.14)`	unaffected	generic	—
`[6.6.151,6.7.0)`	unaffected	semver	—
`[6.12.101,6.13.0)`	unaffected	semver	—
`[6.18.42,6.19.0)`	unaffected	semver	—
`[7.1.6,7.2.0)`	unaffected	semver	—
`[7.2-rc5,*]`	unaffected	generic	—

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Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

Apply the latest kernel update that includes the GVE starvation recovery timer, which fixes the unchecked allocation failure leading to resource exhaustion (CWE-431).
If the update cannot be applied immediately, suspend the GVE interface or boot into a patched kernel to avoid the permanent queue stall and the denial‑of‑service risk (CWE-431).
Configure cgroup memory limits or adjust kernel memory‑allocation options to reduce the likelihood of local memory exhaustion triggering buffer allocation failures in the GVE driver, thereby mitigating resource‑exhaustion attacks.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on August 14, 2026 at 03:23 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories

Source	ID	Title
Debian DLA	DLA-4745-1	linux-6.12 security update

No CVSS v4.0

Attack Vector Network

Attack Complexity Low

Privileges Required None

Scope Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact None

Integrity Impact None

Availability Impact High

User Interaction None

No CVSS v3.0

No CVSS v2

This CVE is not in the KEV list.

The EPSS score is 0.00518.

Key SSVC decision points have not yet been added.

References

Link	Providers
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0c317349b4baa5038d1fc373bf46d5a2419d1710
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/299d5728a7312fdd02059b074aebbe4ebbd391e4
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/42d525e751c61b876b2b0ae4e71ba7a8ab0c2777
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/689b9f588d2d7323dc66293fe594a68d030f400f
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/91e0249f3ef62b75fe8c9c9372eaba32876e4b3a
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9db46e19e5d6bdcd4bf811284a5b0df1b984ef80
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b65352a1bac64442ad95e64f385b40ccb9f1b0db
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68129
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68129

History

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 16:45:00 +0000

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
References		https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/42d525e751c61b876b2b0ae4e71ba7a8ab0c2777 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9db46e19e5d6bdcd4bf811284a5b0df1b984ef80

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 02:45:00 +0000

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Weaknesses	CWE-749 CWE-770

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 22:45:00 +0000

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Metrics	cvssV3_1 `{'score': 5.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}`	cvssV3_1 `{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}`

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Weaknesses		CWE-431
References		https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-68129 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-68129
Metrics	threat_severity `None`	cvssV3_1 `{'score': 5.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}` threat_severity `Moderate`

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 20:15:00 +0000

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Weaknesses		CWE-749 CWE-770

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 12:30:00 +0000

Type	Values Removed	Values Added
Description		In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: gve: fix Rx queue stall on alloc failure When the system is under extreme memory pressure, page allocations can fail during the Rx buffer refill loop. If the number of buffers posted to hardware falls below a critical low threshold and the refill loop exits due to allocation failures, the queue can stall: 1. The device drops incoming packets because there are no descriptors. 2. Since no packets are processed, no Rx completions are generated. 3. Because no completions occur, NAPI is never scheduled, preventing the refill loop from running again even after memory is freed. This results in a permanent queue stall. Resolve this by introducing a starvation recovery timer for each Rx queue. If the number of buffers posted to hardware falls below a critical low threshold, start a timer to periodically reschedule NAPI. Once NAPI runs and successfully refills the queue above the threshold, the timer is not rescheduled. The threshold is set to 32 because a single maximum-sized Receive Segment Coalescing (RSC) packet can consume up to 19 descriptors in the Rx path. Lower thresholds (such as 8 or 16) would be insufficient to process a complete maximum-sized RSC packet, risking packet drops or unexpected hardware behavior under memory pressure. Setting the threshold to 32 guarantees a safe margin to handle at least one full RSC packet.
Title		gve: fix Rx queue stall on alloc failure
First Time appeared		Linux Linux linux Kernel
CPEs		cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
Vendors & Products		Linux Linux linux Kernel
References		https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0c317349b4baa5038d1fc373bf46d5a2419d1710 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/299d5728a7312fdd02059b074aebbe4ebbd391e4 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/689b9f588d2d7323dc66293fe594a68d030f400f https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/91e0249f3ef62b75fe8c9c9372eaba32876e4b3a https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b65352a1bac64442ad95e64f385b40ccb9f1b0db

Subscriptions

Linux Linux Kernel

MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published: 2026-08-10T11:58:51.406Z

Updated: 2026-08-19T16:29:44.226Z

Reserved: 2026-07-30T09:28:09.370Z

Link: CVE-2026-68129

Vulnrichment

No data.

NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-10T13:19:58.200

Modified: 2026-08-19T17:20:30.330

Link: CVE-2026-68129

Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2026-08-10T11:58:51Z

Links: CVE-2026-68129 - Bugzilla

OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-08-14T03:30:03Z

Weaknesses

CWE-431
Missing Handler

Impact

Affected Systems

Risk and Exploitability

Tracking

Attack Vector Network

Attack Complexity Low

Privileges Required None

Scope Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact None

Integrity Impact None

Availability Impact High

User Interaction None

Subscriptions

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