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CVE Record

CVE-2026-23086: vsock/virtio: cap TX credit to local buffer size

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vsock/virtio: cap TX credit to local buffer size The virtio transports derives its TX credit directly from peer_buf_alloc, which is set from the remote endpoint's SO_VM_SOCKETS_BUFFER_SIZE value. On the host side this means that the amount of data we are willing to queue for a connection is scaled by a guest-chosen buffer size, rather than the host's own vsock configuration. A malicious guest can advertise a large buffer and read slowly, causing the host to allocate a correspondingly large amount of sk_buff memory. The same thing would happen in the guest with a malicious host, since virtio transports share the same code base. Introduce a small helper, virtio_transport_tx_buf_size(), that returns min(peer_buf_alloc, buf_alloc), and use it wherever we consume peer_buf_alloc. This ensures the effective TX window is bounded by both the peer's advertised buffer and our own buf_alloc (already clamped to buffer_max_size via SO_VM_SOCKETS_BUFFER_MAX_SIZE), so a remote peer cannot force the other to queue more data than allowed by its own vsock settings. On an unpatched Ubuntu 22.04 host (~64 GiB RAM), running a PoC with 32 guest vsock connections advertising 2 GiB each and reading slowly drove Slab/SUnreclaim from ~0.5 GiB to ~57 GiB; the system only recovered after killing the QEMU process. That said, if QEMU memory is limited with cgroups, the maximum memory used will be limited. With this patch applied: Before: MemFree: ~61.6 GiB Slab: ~142 MiB SUnreclaim: ~117 MiB After 32 high-credit connections: MemFree: ~61.5 GiB Slab: ~178 MiB SUnreclaim: ~152 MiB Only ~35 MiB increase in Slab/SUnreclaim, no host OOM, and the guest remains responsive. Compatibility with non-virtio transports: - VMCI uses the AF_VSOCK buffer knobs to size its queue pairs per socket based on the local vsk->buffer_* values; the remote side cannot enlarge those queues beyond what the local endpoint configured. - Hyper-V's vsock transport uses fixed-size VMBus ring buffers and an MTU bound; there is no peer-controlled credit field comparable to peer_buf_alloc, and the remote endpoint cannot drive in-flight kernel memory above those ring sizes. - The loopback path reuses virtio_transport_common.c, so it naturally follows the same semantics as the virtio transport. This change is limited to virtio_transport_common.c and thus affects virtio-vsock, vhost-vsock, and loopback, bringing them in line with the "remote window intersected with local policy" behaviour that VMCI and Hyper-V already effectively have. [Stefano: small adjustments after changing the previous patch] [Stefano: tweak the commit message]

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2026-23086 is a Linux kernel vsock memory-exhaustion flaw. A malicious VM peer can advertise an oversized buffer and read slowly, making the other side queue excessive kernel memory. The documented impact is denial of service, including host memory pressure or OOM in virtio-vsock environments.

Executive priority

Treat this as high priority for virtualization platforms that run untrusted guests. The likely impact is availability loss, not data theft, but the source shows severe host memory exhaustion on an unpatched system.

Technical view

The virtio vsock transport derived TX credit from peer_buf_alloc, which is controlled by the remote endpoint's SO_VM_SOCKETS_BUFFER_SIZE. The fix caps effective TX credit at min(peer_buf_alloc, local buf_alloc), aligning virtio-vsock, vhost-vsock, and loopback behavior with local buffer policy.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most relevant to Linux hosts or guests using virtio-vsock, vhost-vsock, or loopback vsock paths. Multi-tenant virtualization and untrusted guest workloads face the highest business risk. The source says VMCI and Hyper-V do not have the same peer-controlled credit behavior.

Exploitation context

The source describes a PoC on Ubuntu 22.04 where 32 guest vsock connections drove unreclaimable slab memory from about 0.5 GiB to 57 GiB. KEV is false, and the bundle provides no evidence of active exploitation in the wild.

Researcher notes

The vulnerability is a resource-accounting failure across the vsock peer boundary. The patch constrains transmit credit by local policy. Evidence is strong for denial of service in virtio-related transports, but the bundle does not provide CVSS, CWE, or active exploitation confirmation.

Mitigation direction

  • Apply Linux kernel stable fixes from the referenced upstream commits or vendor packages.
  • Prioritize hosts running untrusted or tenant-controlled guest VMs with vsock enabled.
  • Use cgroups or equivalent limits for QEMU memory where supported.
  • Check vendor advisories, including Siemens guidance, for product-specific update instructions.
  • If patching is delayed, review whether vsock exposure is required for affected guests.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Linux kernels on virtualization hosts and guest images.
  • Identify use of virtio-vsock, vhost-vsock, or loopback vsock paths.
  • Map installed kernels to vendor-fixed releases or the referenced stable commits.
  • Monitor host slab and SUnreclaim memory during VM workloads.
  • Confirm QEMU or VM process memory limits where operationally appropriate.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
8

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
2ADP providers
7Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: partial

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
siemens-SADPADP container
Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinux06a8fc78367d070720af960dcecec917d3ae5f3b, 06a8fc78367d070720af960dcecec917d3ae5f3b, 06a8fc78367d070720af960dcecec917d3ae5f3b, 06a8fc78367d070720af960dcecec917d3ae5f3b, 06a8fc78367d070720af960dcecec917d3ae5f3bunaffected
LinuxLinux4.8, 0, 6.1.162, 6.6.122, 6.12.68, 6.18.8, 6.19affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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