CVE-2026-97981Hinoki check available

Service interruption via unbounded receive-ring processing

Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Sep 25, 2026

Denial of service in the Linux Cortina Gemini Ethernet driver allows remote attackers to monopolize receive processing with malformed frames. In gmac_rx, drop paths consume RX descriptors without decrementing the NAPI budget, so one poll can drain the entire receive ring. Exposure requires the Cortina Gemini driver and traffic reaching its Ethernet receive path; the resulting softirq overrun can interrupt network service without a reported crash.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.18%
Next 30 days · Oct 19, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkAvailable
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in the Linux Cortina Gemini Ethernet driver allows remote attackers to monopolize receive processing with malformed frames. In gmac_rx, drop paths consume RX descriptors without decrementing the NAPI budget, so one poll can drain the entire receive ring. Exposure requires the Cortina Gemini driver and traffic reaching its Ethernet receive path; the resulting softirq overrun can interrupt network service without a reported crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-97981
Published
Sep 25, 2026
Updated
Sep 25, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
unauthenticated

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=4.16
  2. Affected versionversion=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <5754e0c0758805096ecfeaf4c1b146ad51ed246f
  3. Affected versionversion=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <58140f1cebb776d174dc6ff41c15401654a5b1ea
  4. Affected versionversion=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <b856c552f556bc0341c1dbe0bf88e630fd1dc4b7
  5. Affected versionversion=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <cceb6cd7f0e5ed2944a9ca22443d7b9da82f60ab

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=4.16; version=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <5754e0c0758805096ecfeaf4c1b146ad51ed246f; version=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <58140f1cebb776d174dc6ff41c15401654a5b1ea; version=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <b856c552f556bc0341c1dbe0bf88e630fd1dc4b7; version=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <cceb6cd7f0e5ed2944a9ca22443d7b9da82f60ab

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)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation

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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