# CVE-2026-23390: tracing/dma: Cap dma_map_sg tracepoint arrays to prevent buffer overflow

> A buffer overflow in the Linux kernel's DMA tracing can cause a denial of service when tracing large scatter-gather lists.

- **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:** 25 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-23390, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23390, GHSA-qf3f-hxv9-hpx7, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23390, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23390, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23390

## What is CVE-2026-23390?

CVE-2026-23390 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Mar 2026. 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:

tracing/dma: Cap dma_map_sg tracepoint arrays to prevent buffer overflow

The dma_map_sg tracepoint can trigger a perf buffer overflow when
tracing large scatter-gather lists. With devices like virtio-gpu
creating large DRM buffers, nents can exceed 1000 entries, resulting
in:

  phys_addrs: 1000 * 8 bytes = 8,000 bytes
  dma_addrs:  1000 * 8 bytes = 8,000 bytes
  lengths:    1000 * 4 bytes = 4,000 bytes
  Total: ~20,000 bytes

This exceeds PERF_MAX_TRACE_SIZE (8192 bytes), causing:

  WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 5497 at kernel/trace/trace_event_perf.c:405
  perf buffer not large enough, wanted 24620, have 8192

Cap all three dynamic arrays at 128 entries using min() in the array
size calculation. This ensures arrays are only as large as needed
(up to the cap), avoiding unnecessary memory allocation for small
operations while preventing overflow for large ones.

The tracepoint now records the full nents/ents counts and a truncated
flag so users can see when data has been capped.

Changes in v2:
- Use min(nents, DMA_TRACE_MAX_ENTRIES) for dynamic array sizing
  instead of fixed DMA_TRACE_MAX_ENTRIES allocation (feedback from
  Steven Rostedt)
- This allocates only what's needed up to the cap, avoiding waste
  for small operations

Reviwed-by: Sean Anderson <sean.anderson@linux.dev>

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23390?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23390?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23390 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23390 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-23390 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23390 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Mar 2026. 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-2026-23390 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. 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-2026-23390/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23390/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23390
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23390
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23390

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23390/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.