Kernel crash via zero-sized HV statistics buffer
Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 2026
Out-of-bounds write in affected Linux releases allows attackers to crash Hyper-V guests during mlx5e statistics reporting. mlx5e_hv_vhca_stats_create() allocates from stats_nch before channels exist, retains ZERO_SIZE_PTR, and the worker later passes it to memset with a nonzero length. The path requires an Azure/Hyper-V guest using an mlx5 NIC with CONFIG_PCI_HYPERV_INTERFACE; hypervisor stats activation causes a guest-kernel oops or panic.
Summary
What happened
Out-of-bounds write in affected Linux releases allows attackers to crash Hyper-V guests during mlx5e statistics reporting. mlx5e_hv_vhca_stats_create() allocates from stats_nch before channels exist, retains ZERO_SIZE_PTR, and the worker later passes it to memset with a nonzero length. The path requires an Azure/Hyper-V guest using an mlx5 NIC with CONFIG_PCI_HYPERV_INTERFACE; hypervisor stats activation causes a guest-kernel oops or panic.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-72343
- Published
- Aug 15, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 15, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 15, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.17
- Affected versionversion=fa691d0c9c0812b9045f3a9420862e47b3b92518 <22c1d5ecccf92c849bdca1556179aafc95794baf
- Affected versionversion=fa691d0c9c0812b9045f3a9420862e47b3b92518 <25f6b929c7e379cbea7cb8caa67b49b2d1efae17
- Affected versionversion=fa691d0c9c0812b9045f3a9420862e47b3b92518 <3b3a552cf88e10bb7bda88b29cf1fd8267043d50
- Affected versionversion=fa691d0c9c0812b9045f3a9420862e47b3b92518 <420aabb32da4381d8d7cdcaa6a77fad9eaceb0a4
- Affected versionversion=fa691d0c9c0812b9045f3a9420862e47b3b92518 <5b927dcec5f1087942bf123a82e64a3f66475f01
- Affected versionversion=fa691d0c9c0812b9045f3a9420862e47b3b92518 <abc4c56427f144c96b2827a4db3b90eb5b7349a2
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo