CVE-2026-31505

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

iavf: fix out-of-bounds writes in iavf_get_ethtool_stats()

iavf incorrectly uses real_num_tx_queues for ETH_SS_STATS. Since the value could change in runtime, we should use num_tx_queues instead.

Moreover iavf_get_ethtool_stats() uses num_active_queues while iavf_get_sset_count() and iavf_get_stat_strings() use real_num_tx_queues, which triggers out-of-bounds writes when we do ethtool -L and ethtool -S simultaneously [1].

For example when we change channels from 1 to 8, Thread 3 could be scheduled before Thread 2, and out-of-bounds writes could be triggered in Thread 3:

Thread 1 (ethtool -L) Thread 2 (work) Thread 3 (ethtool -S) iavf_set_channels() … iavf_alloc_queues() -> num_active_queues = 8 iavf_schedule_finish_config() iavf_get_sset_count() real_num_tx_queues: 1 -> buffer for 1 queue iavf_get_ethtool_stats() num_active_queues: 8 -> out-of-bounds! iavf_finish_config() -> real_num_tx_queues = 8

Use immutable num_tx_queues in all related functions to avoid the issue.

[1] BUG: KASAN: vmalloc-out-of-bounds in iavf_add_one_ethtool_stat+0x200/0x270 Write of size 8 at addr ffffc900031c9080 by task ethtool/5800

CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 5800 Comm: ethtool Not tainted 6.19.0-enjuk-08403-g8137e3db7f1c #241 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl+0x6f/0xb0 print_report+0x170/0x4f3 kasan_report+0xe1/0x180 iavf_add_one_ethtool_stat+0x200/0x270 iavf_get_ethtool_stats+0x14c/0x2e0 __dev_ethtool+0x3d0c/0x5830 dev_ethtool+0x12d/0x270 dev_ioctl+0x53c/0xe30 sock_do_ioctl+0x1a9/0x270 sock_ioctl+0x3d4/0x5e0 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x137/0x1c0 do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x690 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7f7da0e6e36d …

The buggy address belongs to a 1-page vmalloc region starting at 0xffffc900031c9000 allocated at __dev_ethtool+0x3cc9/0x5830 The buggy address belongs to the physical page: page: refcount:1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0xffff88813a013de0 pfn:0x13a013 flags: 0x200000000000000(node=0|zone=2) raw: 0200000000000000 0000000000000000 dead000000000122 0000000000000000 raw: ffff88813a013de0 0000000000000000 00000001ffffffff 0000000000000000 page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected

Memory state around the buggy address: ffffc900031c8f80: f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 ffffc900031c9000: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

ffffc900031c9080: f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 ^ ffffc900031c9100: f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 ffffc900031c9180: f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8

Weakness

The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.

Affected Software

Potential Mitigations

• Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.

• For example, many languages that perform their own memory management, such as Java and Perl, are not subject to buffer overflows. Other languages, such as Ada and C#, typically provide overflow protection, but the protection can be disabled by the programmer.

• Be wary that a language’s interface to native code may still be subject to overflows, even if the language itself is theoretically safe.

• Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.

• Examples include the Safe C String Library (SafeStr) by Messier and Viega [REF-57], and the Strsafe.h library from Microsoft [REF-56]. These libraries provide safer versions of overflow-prone string-handling functions.

• Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index checking.

• D3-SFCV (Stack Frame Canary Validation) from D3FEND [REF-1334] discusses canary-based detection in detail.

• Consider adhering to the following rules when allocating and managing an application’s memory:

• Run or compile the software using features or extensions that randomly arrange the positions of a program’s executable and libraries in memory. Because this makes the addresses unpredictable, it can prevent an attacker from reliably jumping to exploitable code.

• Examples include Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) [REF-58] [REF-60] and Position-Independent Executables (PIE) [REF-64]. Imported modules may be similarly realigned if their default memory addresses conflict with other modules, in a process known as “rebasing” (for Windows) and “prelinking” (for Linux) [REF-1332] using randomly generated addresses. ASLR for libraries cannot be used in conjunction with prelink since it would require relocating the libraries at run-time, defeating the whole purpose of prelinking.

• For more information on these techniques see D3-SAOR (Segment Address Offset Randomization) from D3FEND [REF-1335].

• Use a CPU and operating system that offers Data Execution Protection (using hardware NX or XD bits) or the equivalent techniques that simulate this feature in software, such as PaX [REF-60] [REF-61]. These techniques ensure that any instruction executed is exclusively at a memory address that is part of the code segment.

• For more information on these techniques see D3-PSEP (Process Segment Execution Prevention) from D3FEND [REF-1336].

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1f931dee5b726df1940348ec31614d64bac03aa6
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bb85741d2dc2be207353a412f51b83697fcbefcf
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fdf902bf86a80bf15792a1d20a67a5302498d7f1
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fecacfc95f195b99c71c579a472120d0b4ed65fa