# CVE-2024-26766: IB/hfi1: Fix sdma.h tx->num_descs off-by-one error

> An off-by-one error in the IB/hfi1 driver causes a buffer overflow, leading to system crashes via the sendmsg system call.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 3 Apr 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-26766, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-26766, GHSA-wm8x-c4gv-vvw5, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-26766

## What is CVE-2024-26766?

CVE-2024-26766 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 3 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

IB/hfi1: Fix sdma.h tx->num_descs off-by-one error

Unfortunately the commit `fd8958efe877` introduced another error
causing the `descs` array to overflow. This reults in further crashes
easily reproducible by `sendmsg` system call.

[ 1080.836473] general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0x400300015528b00a: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI
[ 1080.869326] RIP: 0010:hfi1_ipoib_build_ib_tx_headers.constprop.0+0xe1/0x2b0 [hfi1]
--
[ 1080.974535] Call Trace:
[ 1080.976990]  <TASK>
[ 1081.021929]  hfi1_ipoib_send_dma_common+0x7a/0x2e0 [hfi1]
[ 1081.027364]  hfi1_ipoib_send_dma_list+0x62/0x270 [hfi1]
[ 1081.032633]  hfi1_ipoib_send+0x112/0x300 [hfi1]
[ 1081.042001]  ipoib_start_xmit+0x2a9/0x2d0 [ib_ipoib]
[ 1081.046978]  dev_hard_start_xmit+0xc4/0x210
--
[ 1081.148347]  __sys_sendmsg+0x59/0xa0

crash> ipoib_txreq 0xffff9cfeba229f00
struct ipoib_txreq {
  txreq = {
    list = {
      next = 0xffff9cfeba229f00,
      prev = 0xffff9cfeba229f00
    },
    descp = 0xffff9cfeba229f40,
    coalesce_buf = 0x0,
    wait = 0xffff9cfea4e69a48,
    complete = 0xffffffffc0fe0760 <hfi1_ipoib_sdma_complete>,
    packet_len = 0x46d,
    tlen = 0x0,
    num_desc = 0x0,
    desc_limit = 0x6,
    next_descq_idx = 0x45c,
    coalesce_idx = 0x0,
    flags = 0x0,
    descs = {{
        qw = {0x8024000120dffb00, 0x4}  # SDMA_DESC0_FIRST_DESC_FLAG (bit 63)
      }, {
        qw = {  0x3800014231b108, 0x4}
      }, {
        qw = { 0x310000e4ee0fcf0, 0x8}
      }, {
        qw = {  0x3000012e9f8000, 0x8}
      }, {
        qw = {  0x59000dfb9d0000, 0x8}
      }, {
        qw = {  0x78000e02e40000, 0x8}
      }}
  },
  sdma_hdr =  0x400300015528b000,  <<< invalid pointer in the tx request structure
  sdma_status = 0x0,                   SDMA_DESC0_LAST_DESC_FLAG (bit 62)
  complete = 0x0,
  priv = 0x0,
  txq = 0xffff9cfea4e69880,
  skb = 0xffff9d099809f400
}

If an SDMA send consists of exactly 6 descriptors and requires dword
padding (in the 7th descriptor), the sdma_txreq descriptor array is not
properly expanded and the packet will overflow into the container
structure. This results in a panic when the send completion runs. The
exact panic varies depending on what elements of the container structure
get corrupted. The fix is to use the correct expression in
_pad_sdma_tx_descs() to test the need to expand the descriptor array.

With this patch the crashes are no longer reproducible and the machine is
stable.

Weakness: CWE-193 (Off-by-one Error)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-26766?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-26766?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-26766 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26766 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-26766 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-26766 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 3 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26766 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26766/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26766/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-26766
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-26766
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-26766

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26766/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.