CVE-2026-97957

Reference list NVD curates from the CNA record, vendor advisories, and third-party reports. The tag chips below are NVD's analyst-assigned categories.

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/513f7b16ed0cffae9348151c72bed17c7073096f 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5d4d985957434867bbe85e4fa5e638f3e48ad522 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9f6ad383901d0cb1c8ea5f7f3160fabfe1540eb5 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eca54a092d5f7b497b458ff5a6f66d4f7bfb6674 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

The full cvelistV5 record. Download as CVE-2026-97957.json.

{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/ethernet/huawei/hinic/hinic_hw_mbox.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "eca54a092d5f7b497b458ff5a6f66d4f7bfb6674",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "a425b6e1c69ba907b72b737a4d44f8cfbc43ce3c",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "9f6ad383901d0cb1c8ea5f7f3160fabfe1540eb5",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "a425b6e1c69ba907b72b737a4d44f8cfbc43ce3c",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "513f7b16ed0cffae9348151c72bed17c7073096f",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "a425b6e1c69ba907b72b737a4d44f8cfbc43ce3c",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "5d4d985957434867bbe85e4fa5e638f3e48ad522",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "a425b6e1c69ba907b72b737a4d44f8cfbc43ce3c",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/ethernet/huawei/hinic/hinic_hw_mbox.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5.8"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "5.8",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.12.111",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.18.53",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.2.7",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.3-rc3",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.12.111",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "5.8",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.18.53",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "5.8",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.2.7",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "5.8",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.3-rc3",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "5.8",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: hinic: fix mailbox segment buffer overflow\n\ncheck_mbox_seq_id_and_seg_len() validates that seq_id does not\nexceed SEQ_ID_MAX_VAL (42) and seg_len does not exceed\nMBOX_SEG_LEN (48).  However, this allows the last segment\n(seq_id=42) to carry a full 48-byte payload, writing to offset\n42*48=2016 for 48 bytes (ending at byte 2064).  The receive\nbuffer is only MBOX_MAX_BUF_SZ (2048) bytes, resulting in a\n16-byte heap buffer overflow.\n\nThe hinic3 driver already handles this correctly by defining\nMBOX_LAST_SEG_MAX_LEN and rejecting the last segment when it\nexceeds the remaining buffer space.  Apply the same fix to the\nhinic driver."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "baseScore": 8.8,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "AV:L - The malformed input is a mailbox header (SEQID/SEG_LEN) and 48-byte body that a VF driver writes into its own mailbox registers. The hardware delivers it to the PF's hinic_mbox_func_aeqe_handler() -> recv_mbox_handler(). The attacker is code running in a guest that owns an SR-IOV VF (or a local driver), not a remote network peer, so this is local access.\nAC:L - The attacker sends segments seq_id 0..42 in order, each with seg_len=48. check_mbox_seq_id_and_seg_len() accepts all of them, and the memcpy at offset 42*48 overflows every time. The only setup is a VF assigned to the attacker's VM, which is the standard SR-IOV passthrough deployment. Nothing depends on timing or state outside the attacker's control.\nPR:L - Writing raw mailbox headers needs kernel control of the VF, i.e. root inside the guest. A VM tenant always has that, and it gives no privilege on the host whose PF driver is corrupted. The random id checked by check_vf_mbox_random_id() is given to every genuine VF, so it does not stop a hostile VF driver.\nUI:N - The PF host processes the mailbox message on its own from the AEQ handler. Nobody on the host has to do anything.\nS:C - The bug is in a guest-controlled VF's messages, but the overflow corrupts the host kernel heap in the PF driver (recv_mbox->mbox, kzalloc(2048)). That crosses the guest-to-host boundary, like a VM escape.\nC:H - Overwriting the first 16 bytes of the neighbouring kmalloc-2048 object with attacker-chosen data can corrupt pointers or length fields in that object. That is a normal route to reading arbitrary host kernel memory.\nI:H - recv_mbox_handler() copies 16 attacker-chosen bytes from the mailbox body past the end of the 2048-byte receive buffer. This is a controlled heap out-of-bounds write in the host kernel, which can lead to control-flow hijack.\nA:H - The guest can repeat the corruption of the neighbouring host heap object at will, crashing or panicking the host kernel. That takes down every tenant on the host."
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-09-25T14:41:45.351Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eca54a092d5f7b497b458ff5a6f66d4f7bfb6674"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9f6ad383901d0cb1c8ea5f7f3160fabfe1540eb5"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/513f7b16ed0cffae9348151c72bed17c7073096f"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5d4d985957434867bbe85e4fa5e638f3e48ad522"
        }
      ],
      "title": "net: hinic: fix mailbox segment buffer overflow",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-97957",
    "datePublished": "2026-09-25T10:23:03.153Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-09-25T10:18:58.205Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-09-25T14:41:45.351Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}