Bug 2451273 (CVE-2026-23386)

Summary: CVE-2026-23386 kernel: gve: fix incorrect buffer cleanup in gve_tx_clean_pending_packets for QPL
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
Target Milestone: ---   
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel, specifically within the gve network driver. When the driver operates in DQ-QPL (Data Queue - Queue Pair List) mode, the gve_tx_clean_pending_packets() function incorrectly processes buffer cleanup. This error can cause the system to attempt to unmap memory at incorrect locations and access memory outside of allocated bounds, potentially leading to system instability or a denial of service.
Story Points: ---
Clone Of: Environment:
Last Closed: Type: ---
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-03-25 11:08:15 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

gve: fix incorrect buffer cleanup in gve_tx_clean_pending_packets for QPL

In DQ-QPL mode, gve_tx_clean_pending_packets() incorrectly uses the RDA
buffer cleanup path. It iterates num_bufs times and attempts to unmap
entries in the dma array.

This leads to two issues:
1. The dma array shares storage with tx_qpl_buf_ids (union).
 Interpreting buffer IDs as DMA addresses results in attempting to
 unmap incorrect memory locations.
2. num_bufs in QPL mode (counting 2K chunks) can significantly exceed
 the size of the dma array, causing out-of-bounds access warnings
(trace below is how we noticed this issue).

UBSAN: array-index-out-of-bounds in
drivers/net/ethernet/drivers/net/ethernet/google/gve/gve_tx_dqo.c:178:5 index 18 is out of
range for type 'dma_addr_t[18]' (aka 'unsigned long long[18]')
Workqueue: gve gve_service_task [gve]
Call Trace:
<TASK>
dump_stack_lvl+0x33/0xa0
__ubsan_handle_out_of_bounds+0xdc/0x110
gve_tx_stop_ring_dqo+0x182/0x200 [gve]
gve_close+0x1be/0x450 [gve]
gve_reset+0x99/0x120 [gve]
gve_service_task+0x61/0x100 [gve]
process_scheduled_works+0x1e9/0x380

Fix this by properly checking for QPL mode and delegating to
gve_free_tx_qpl_bufs() to reclaim the buffers.