CVE-2026-97982Network attack vector

Denial of service via inverted NAPI accounting

Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Sep 25, 2026

Denial of service in the Cortina Gemini Ethernet driver in affected Linux revisions allows attackers to keep NAPI polling active via network traffic. The gmac_rx() function returns its remaining budget, and gmac_napi_poll() misreads that value as received-packet work, so an idle poll reports a full budget. Reachability requires an active Cortina Gemini Ethernet interface; the incorrect work count leaves receive polling scheduled without packets.

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

What happened

Denial of service in the Cortina Gemini Ethernet driver in affected Linux revisions allows attackers to keep NAPI polling active via network traffic. The gmac_rx() function returns its remaining budget, and gmac_napi_poll() misreads that value as received-packet work, so an idle poll reports a full budget. Reachability requires an active Cortina Gemini Ethernet interface; the incorrect work count leaves receive polling scheduled without packets.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-97982
Published
Sep 25, 2026
Updated
Sep 25, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499
Attack vector
network
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 <0ef8eaef5806c84db2334111d6f299c246a592bc
  3. Affected versionversion=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <631c47e2e1154f2741c555b91df1b8cb99294c6a
  4. Affected versionversion=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <94e06e12a376710587cfeea481b65e7c49747003
  5. Affected versionversion=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <a0de06d0da78a3db53de65dfd7452cc6d111f703

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=4.16; version=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <0ef8eaef5806c84db2334111d6f299c246a592bc; version=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <631c47e2e1154f2741c555b91df1b8cb99294c6a; version=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <94e06e12a376710587cfeea481b65e7c49747003; version=4d5ae32f5e1e13f7f36d6439ec3257993b9f5b88 <a0de06d0da78a3db53de65dfd7452cc6d111f703

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)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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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