CVE-2026-97957

Kernel heap overwrite via oversized final mailbox segment

Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Sep 25, 2026

Heap buffer overflow in the Linux hinic driver allows attackers to overwrite 16 bytes beyond a mailbox receive buffer. check_mbox_seq_id_and_seg_len accepts a 48-byte segment at sequence 42, causing the copy at offset 2016 to exceed the 2048-byte allocation. Reachability requires a crafted final mailbox segment to reach the hinic handler; the published record establishes kernel heap corruption but no further consequence.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.14%
Next 30 days · Oct 19, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Heap buffer overflow in the Linux hinic driver allows attackers to overwrite 16 bytes beyond a mailbox receive buffer. check_mbox_seq_id_and_seg_len accepts a 48-byte segment at sequence 42, causing the copy at offset 2016 to exceed the 2048-byte allocation. Reachability requires a crafted final mailbox segment to reach the hinic handler; the published record establishes kernel heap corruption but no further consequence.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-97957
Published
Sep 25, 2026
Updated
Sep 25, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
Unavailable
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 25, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 25, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.8
  2. Affected versionversion=a425b6e1c69ba907b72b737a4d44f8cfbc43ce3c <513f7b16ed0cffae9348151c72bed17c7073096f
  3. Affected versionversion=a425b6e1c69ba907b72b737a4d44f8cfbc43ce3c <5d4d985957434867bbe85e4fa5e638f3e48ad522
  4. Affected versionversion=a425b6e1c69ba907b72b737a4d44f8cfbc43ce3c <9f6ad383901d0cb1c8ea5f7f3160fabfe1540eb5
  5. Affected versionversion=a425b6e1c69ba907b72b737a4d44f8cfbc43ce3c <eca54a092d5f7b497b458ff5a6f66d4f7bfb6674

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorUnavailable in this record.
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.8; version=a425b6e1c69ba907b72b737a4d44f8cfbc43ce3c <513f7b16ed0cffae9348151c72bed17c7073096f; version=a425b6e1c69ba907b72b737a4d44f8cfbc43ce3c <5d4d985957434867bbe85e4fa5e638f3e48ad522; version=a425b6e1c69ba907b72b737a4d44f8cfbc43ce3c <9f6ad383901d0cb1c8ea5f7f3160fabfe1540eb5; version=a425b6e1c69ba907b72b737a4d44f8cfbc43ce3c <eca54a092d5f7b497b458ff5a6f66d4f7bfb6674

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

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.

Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 22, 2026Sep 28, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 28, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
VectorUnavailable
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

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

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Your stack

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