CVE-2026-31649

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

net: stmmac: fix integer underflow in chain mode

The jumbo_frm() chain-mode implementation unconditionally computes

len = nopaged_len - bmax;

where nopaged_len = skb_headlen(skb) (linear bytes only) and bmax is BUF_SIZE_8KiB or BUF_SIZE_2KiB. However, the caller stmmac_xmit() decides to invoke jumbo_frm() based on skb->len (total length including page fragments):

is_jumbo = stmmac_is_jumbo_frm(priv, skb->len, enh_desc);

When a packet has a small linear portion (nopaged_len <= bmax) but a large total length due to page fragments (skb->len > bmax), the subtraction wraps as an unsigned integer, producing a huge len value (~0xFFFFxxxx). This causes the while (len != 0) loop to execute hundreds of thousands of iterations, passing skb->data + bmax * i pointers far beyond the skb buffer to dma_map_single(). On IOMMU-less SoCs (the typical deployment for stmmac), this maps arbitrary kernel memory to the DMA engine, constituting a kernel memory disclosure and potential memory corruption from hardware.

Fix this by introducing a buf_len local variable clamped to min(nopaged_len, bmax). Computing len = nopaged_len - buf_len is then always safe: it is zero when the linear portion fits within a single descriptor, causing the while (len != 0) loop to be skipped naturally, and the fragment loop in stmmac_xmit() handles page fragments afterward.

Weakness

The product performs a calculation that can produce an integer overflow or wraparound when the logic assumes that the resulting value will always be larger than the original value. This occurs when an integer value is incremented to a value that is too large to store in the associated representation. When this occurs, the value may become a very small or negative number.

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.
• If possible, choose a language or compiler that performs automatic bounds checking.
• Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid [REF-1482].
• Use libraries or frameworks that make it easier to handle numbers without unexpected consequences.
• Examples include safe integer handling packages such as SafeInt (C++) or IntegerLib (C or C++). [REF-106]
• Perform input validation on any numeric input by ensuring that it is within the expected range. Enforce that the input meets both the minimum and maximum requirements for the expected range.
• Use unsigned integers where possible. This makes it easier to perform validation for integer overflows. When signed integers are required, ensure that the range check includes minimum values as well as maximum values.
• Understand the programming language’s underlying representation and how it interacts with numeric calculation (CWE-681). Pay close attention to byte size discrepancies, precision, signed/unsigned distinctions, truncation, conversion and casting between types, “not-a-number” calculations, and how the language handles numbers that are too large or too small for its underlying representation. [REF-7]
• Also be careful to account for 32-bit, 64-bit, and other potential differences that may affect the numeric representation.

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/92.html

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/10d12b9240ebf96c785f0e2e4228318cd5f3a3eb
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/275bdf762e82082f064e60a92448fa2ac43cf95b
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2c91b39912278d0878f9ba60ba04d2518b18a08d
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/513e06735f5be575b409d195822195348b164e48
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/51f4e090b9f87b40c21b6daadb5c06e6c0a07b67
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6fca757c20396dc2e604dcc61922264e9e3dc803
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2b68a9a476b9544ff31f1fbcd5d80867a8a5e2f
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b7b8012193fd98236d7ae05d4b553f010a77b2ef