# CVE-2026-43464: net/mlx5e: RX, Fix XDP multi-buf frag counting for legacy RQ

CVE-2026-43464 is fixed in 23 products on 1 platform, first by ALAS2023-2026-1596, released April 27, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: High.

- Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-43464
- Priority: High
- CVSS: 7.5 (Moderate)
- EPSS: 0.0055
- CISA KEV: not listed
- Exploited (vendor report): no
- Publicly disclosed: no
- Published: Apr 27, 2026
- Vendor advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-43464

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:  net/mlx5e: RX, Fix XDP multi-buf frag counting for legacy RQ  XDP multi-buf programs can modify the layout of the XDP buffer when the program calls bpf_xdp_pull_data() or bpf_xdp_adjust_tail(). The referenced commit in the fixes tag corrected the assumption in the mlx5 driver that the XDP buffer layout doesn't change during a program execution. However, this fix introduced another issue: the dropped fragments still need to be counted on the driver side to avoid page fragment reference counting issues.  Such issue can be observed with the test_xdp_native_adjst_tail_shrnk_data selftest when using a payload of 3600 and shrinking by 256 bytes (an upcoming selftest patch): the last fragment gets released by the XDP code but doesn't get tracked by the driver. This results in a negative pp_ref_count during page release and the following splat:    WARNING: include/net/page_pool/helpers.h:297 at mlx5e_page_release_fragmented.isra.0+0x4a/0x50 [mlx5_core], CPU#12: ip/3137   Modules linked in: [...]   CPU: 12 UID: 0 PID: 3137 Comm: ip Not tainted 6.19.0-rc3+ #12 NONE   Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014   RIP: 0010:mlx5e_page_release_fragmented.isra.0+0x4a/0x50 [mlx5_core]   [...]   Call Trace:    <TASK>    mlx5e_dealloc_rx_wqe+0xcb/0x1a0 [mlx5_core]    mlx5e_free_rx_descs+0x7f/0x110 [mlx5_core]    mlx5e_close_rq+0x50/0x60 [mlx5_core]    mlx5e_close_queues+0x36/0x2c0 [mlx5_core]    mlx5e_close_channel+0x1c/0x50 [mlx5_core]    mlx5e_close_channels+0x45/0x80 [mlx5_core]    mlx5e_safe_switch_params+0x1a5/0x230 [mlx5_core]    mlx5e_change_mtu+0xf3/0x2f0 [mlx5_core]    netif_set_mtu_ext+0xf1/0x230    do_setlink.isra.0+0x219/0x1180    rtnl_newlink+0x79f/0xb60    rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x213/0x3a0    netlink_rcv_skb+0x48/0xf0    netlink_unicast+0x24a/0x350    netlink_sendmsg+0x1ee/0x410    __sock_sendmsg+0x38/0x60    ____sys_sendmsg+0x232/0x280    ___sys_sendmsg+0x78/0xb0    __sys_sendmsg+0x5f/0xb0    [...]    do_syscall_64+0x57/0xc50  This patch fixes the issue by doing page frag counting on all the original XDP buffer fragments for all relevant XDP actions (XDP_TX , XDP_REDIRECT and XDP_PASS). This is basically reverting to the original counting before the commit in the fixes tag.  As frag_page is still pointing to the original tail, the nr_frags parameter to xdp_update_skb_frags_info() needs to be calculated in a different way to reflect the new nr_frags.

## Where it's fixed

| Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | bpftool6.18 amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | bpftool6.18-debuginfo amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel-livepatch-6.18.20-20.229 amzn 2023 | 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18 amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-debuginfo amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-debuginfo-common-aarch64 amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-debuginfo-common-x86_64 amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-devel amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-headers amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-libbpf amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-libbpf-debuginfo amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-libbpf-devel amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-libbpf-static amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-modules-extra amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-modules-extra-common amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-tools amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-tools-debuginfo amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | kernel6.18-tools-devel amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | linux Debian 13.5 (trixie) | 6.12.115-2 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43464](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2026-43464.md) | May 15, 2026 |
| Linux | linux Debian 14 | 6.19.10-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43464](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2026-43464.md) | May 15, 2026 |
| Linux | perf6.18 amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | perf6.18-debuginfo amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | python3-perf6.18 amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Linux | python3-perf6.18-debuginfo amzn 2023 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | [ALAS2023-2026-1596](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/alas2023-2026-1596.md) | Apr 27, 2026 |

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