# CVE-2026-23451: bonding: prevent potential infinite loop in bond_header_parse()

> A local attacker can cause a kernel infinite loop in the bonding driver by configuring stacked bonding devices, leading to a denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 3 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-23451, GHSA-j6pc-6q9q-vr74, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23451

## What is CVE-2026-23451?

CVE-2026-23451 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Apr 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

bonding: prevent potential infinite loop in bond_header_parse()

bond_header_parse() can loop if a stack of two bonding devices is setup,
because skb->dev always points to the hierarchy top.

Add new "const struct net_device *dev" parameter to
(struct header_ops)->parse() method to make sure the recursion
is bounded, and that the final leaf parse method is called.

Weakness: CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23451?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23451?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23451 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23451 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-2026-23451 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23451 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Apr 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23451 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-2026-23451/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23451/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23451
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23451
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23451

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23451/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.